The LeopardClan Warrior
by Petalsplash
Summary: SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read The Last Hope you may not want to read this. After the great battle in The Last Hope, Lionblaze and Cinderheart have their kits, Bramblestar gets his nine lives, and Jayfeather receives a prophecy from StarClan that may change ThunderClan's future for good.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The sun was peeking over the horizon, trying to reach the frozen meadow. Three stiff figures sat on a large rock to watch the magnificent sunrise.

The first one spoke. "So what do you think the life of the Clans will be like now?" a blue-gray she-cat asked. The other one sniffed. "Bluestar, if you're worried about them getting bored, let me tell you, the Clans will always find some way to spice up their lives. Don't you remember the daylight gathering? If they're bored, they'll do something." The third cat blinked. "But I thought we were here to talk about-" she was caught off in mid sentence when the sun suddenly burst on the meadow, lighting up everything, melting the frost, making the forest leaves it's rays touched brown to green, making prey peek out of their holes.

"The sunrise. I doubted that I'd even be alive to see this," the second she-cat commented. Bluestar mewed, "You're right, Yellowfang." Under her breath, Bluestar murmured, "Spottedleaf would have loved this." "It was Spottedleaf's time to die," Yellowfang said gently. Bluestar hung her head. The third cat was too awestruck to notice the conversation. "An amazing sunrise for a great new dawn," the she-cat meowed. Bluestar looked up and asked, "What were you going to say, Half Moon?" Half Moon snapped out of her trance. "I-I was going to say, 'but I thought we were here to talk about omens'." Yellowfang sighed. "Not every time StarClan cats meet up do we talk about omens. I don't even think there are any omens now," she glanced hesitantly at Bluestar. "Right?" Bluestar shook her head. "I guess the Clans will live in peace for the time being."

"You probably are right about that," a voice said from behind the she-cats. They spun around, to see Oakheart, Raggedstar, and Feathertail. "What makes you think that?" Yellowfang asked. "There have been no omens about RiverClan," Oakheart told her. "Or ShadowClan," Raggedstar added. "Same for WindClan," mewed Feathertail. "Well, I don't have anything better to do, so I'm going hunting. Anyone want to come with?" meowed Half Moon. "Are you allowed to hunt in StarClan grounds?" Feathertail asked suspiciously. "The four leaders said I could stay until nightfall, so yes," Half Moon replied. "Then I'm coming with you. I need a stretch." Feathertail showed her belly. "You don't want to end up looking like your father," Yellowfang cautioned. "Graystripe's just fluffy," Feathertail defended her father. "Sure, sure," Yellowfang said sarcastically. "Come on, Half Moon, lets go," Feathertail bounded down the slope, and Half Moon shrugged and followed.

Raggedstar mewed to Yellowfang, "Do you want to go hunting with me? I'd like to fill up our kits bellies after the brief leaf-bare." Yellowfang nodded. "Okay." But before Yellowfang left, Bluestar called, "Yellowfang, wait! Can I talk to you?" Yellowfang looked at Raggedstar. "You get a head start. I won't be long." Raggedstar ran into the heather.

"What is it, Bluestar?" Yellowfang asked. "Where is Spottedleaf now?" Bluestar's voice was almost a murmur. Yellowfang thought for a moment, and was about to speak, but Oakheart beat her to it. "A lot of StarClan cats are talking about that. Some say her soul fades altogether, others say she'll be reincarnated. But the story I believe is that once a cat fades or dies again they are the ones that send us prophecies and omens." Bluestar looked confused. "Remember when you had that dream on the night Dovewing was born, telling you she was the One?" he asked. Bluestar nodded. "Well, have you ever wondered who sent you that dream?" he pressed. Bluestar's eyes lit up with understanding. "So what you're saying is," she began, "that when a good cat fades or dies again, _they_ watch over _us?_"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he meowed. "I wonder what happens to the bad cats," Yellowfang thought. "Your thinking of Brokenstar, aren't you?" Yellowfang dipped her head. "Yes." "Where the dark forest cats go isn't our concern," growled Oakheart. "I suppose your right," Yellowfang admitted.

"Don't blame yourself, Yellowfang. You had nothing to do with Brokenstar's crimes. Blaming yourself won't help any of us recuperate." Bluestar mewed as she dipped her head to drink out of a snowmelt puddle. A ripple moved across the water, and Bluestar stiffened.

"Are you alright?" Oakheart asked with concern in his voice. "I take that back, Yellowfang," Bluestar said. "Take what back?" asked Yellowfang, confused. "When I agreed with you about there being no omens. Look." Yellowfang and Oakheart peered over Bluestar's shoulder into the puddle, and jumped at what they saw. Yellowfang and Oakheart's reflections were normal, but instead of Bluestar's reflection being in-between them, there was a leopard. Bluestar dabbed at the water, and it rippled and then her reflection turned normal. Yellowfang looked at Bluestar and said, "I must speak to Jayfeather at once." "Why?" "Because trouble is on its way."


	2. Allegiances

**So here are the Allegiances! As you may notice, some cats aren't in these Allegiances but are in The Last Hope Allegiances. That's because they either died in the battle (Firestar and Hollyleaf) or ran away/betrayed the Clans (Breezepelt). Anyway, ONTO DA CHAPTER!**

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**ALLEGIANCES**

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**THUNDERCLAN**

**Leader** Bramblestar-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**Deputy** Squirrelflight-dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

**Medicine cat** Leafpool-light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Jayfeather (gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes)

**Warriors** (toms and she-cat without kits)

Graystripe-long-haired gray tom

Brackenfur-golden brown tabby tom

Cloudtail-long-haired white tom with blue eyes

Millie-striped gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Thornclaw-golden brown tabby tom

Spiderleg-long-limed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes

Birchfall-light brown tabby tom

Whitewing-white she-cat with green eyes

Berrynose-cream-colored tom

Hazeltail-small gray-and-white she-cat

Mousewhisker-gray-and-white tom

Poppyfrost-tortoiseshell she-cat

Cinderheart-gray tabby she-cat

Lionblaze-golden tabby tom with amber eyes

Foxleap-reddish tabby tom

Apprentice, Cherrypaw

Icecloud-white she-cat

Toadstep-black-and-white tom

Rosepetal-dark cream she-cat

Apprentice, Molepaw

Briarlight-dark brown she-cat

Blossomfall-tortoiseshell and white she-cat

Bumblestripe-very pale gray tom with black stripes

Dovewing-pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

Ivypool-silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

**Apprentices** (more than six moons, in training to become warriors)

Cherrypaw-ginger she-cat

Molepaw-brown-and-cream tom

**Queens** (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

Sorreltail-tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes (mother to Lilykit, a dark tabby she-kit with white patches, and Seedkit, a very pale ginger she-kit)

Brightheart-white she-cat with ginger patches (mother to Dewkit, a gray tom, Amberkit, a gray she-kit with white paws, muzzle, and ear, and Snowkit, a white tom)

Daisy-cream long-furred cat from the horseplace, pregnant with Spiderleg's kits

**Elders** (former warriors and queens, now retired)

Dustpelt-dark brown tabby tom

Sandstorm-pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

Purdy-plump tabby former loner with a gray muzzle

**SHADOWCLAN**

**Leader** Blackstar-large white tom with huge black paws

**Deputy** Rowanclaw-ginger tom

**Medicine cat** Littlecloud-very small tabby tom  
Apprentice, Mistpaw (pale gray she-cat with spiky fur)

**Warriors**

Oakfur-small brown tom

Toadfoot-dark brown tom

Applefur-mottled brown she-cat

Apprentice, Stoatpaw (skinny ginger tom)

Crowfrost-black and white tom

Ratscar-brown tom with a long scar across his back

Snowbird-pure-white she-cat

Tawnypelt-tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Olivenose-tortoiseshell she-cat

Apprentice, Sparrowpaw (large brown tabby tom)

Owlclaw-light brown tabby tom

Kinkfur-tabby she-cat, with long fur that sticks out at all angles

Tigerheart-dark brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Dewpaw (gray she-cat with sky-blue eyes)

Dawnpelt-cream-furred she-cat

Ferretclaw-cream-and-gray tom

Starlingwing-ginger tom

**Queens**

Ivytail-black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat, pregnant with Owlclaw's kits

Pinenose-black she-cat, mother to Ferretclaw's kits, Moonkit and Vinekit

**Elders**

Tallpoppy-long-legged light brown tabby she-cat

Whitewater-white she-cat with long fur, blind in one eye

**WINDCLAN**

**Leader** Onestar-brown tabby tom

**Deputy** Ashfoot-gray she-cat

**Medicine Cat** Kestrelflight-mottled gray tom

**Warriors**

Crowfeather-dark gray tom

Owlwhisker-light brown tabby tom

Whitetail-small white she-cat

Gorsetail-very pale gray-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

Weaselfur-ginger tom with white paws

Harespring-brown-and-white tom

Apprentice, Larkpaw (gray she-cat)

Emberfoot-gray tom with two dark paws

Heathertail-light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Sedgewhisker-light brown tabby she-cat

Sunstrike-tortoiseshell she-cat with a large white mark on her forehead

Whiskernose-light brown tom

Apprentice, Crouchpaw (black tom)

**Queens**

Furzepelt-gray-and-white she-cat, pregnant with Whiskernose's kits

Swallowtail-dark gray she-cat, pregnant with Antpelt's kits

**Elders**

Tornear-tabby tom

**RIVERCLAN**

**Leader** Mistystar-gray she-cat with blue eyes

**Deputy** Reedwhisker-black tom

**Medicine Cat** Mothwing-dappled golden she-cat

Apprentice, Willowshine (gray tabby she-cat)

**Warriors**

Graymist-pale gray tabby she-cat

Icewing-white she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice, Curlpaw (dark cream thick-furred fluffy she-cat)

Pebblefoot-mottled gray tom

Mallownose-light brown tabby tom

Petalfur-gray-and-white she-cat

Apprentice, Podpaw (sturdy black-and-brown tom)

Grasspelt-light brown tom

Mossyfoot-brown-and-white she-cat

Troutstream-pale gray tabby she-cat

Piketail-large dark gray tom

Tanglepelt-long-furred light orange tom with white paws

Rushtail-light brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice, Heronpaw (brown tabby tom)

Ducksplash-tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

**Queens**

Mosspelt-tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes, pregnant with Reedwhisker's kits

Minnowtail-dark gray-and-white she-cat, pregnant with Mallownose's kits

**Elders**

Dapplenose-mottled gray she-cat

**CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS**

Smoky-muscular gray-and-white tom that lives in a barn at the horseplace

Floss-small gray-and-white she-cat that lives in a barn at the horseplace

**OTHER ANIMALS**

Midnight-a stargazing badger who lives by the sea

* * *

**TADA! So those were the Allegiances (P.S., Piketail, Tanglepelt, and Ducksplash are the three apprentices in the _Rushpaw Splash_ in _Battles of the Clans_.).**

**~Petalsplash**


	3. Chapter 1: After the Battle

**REPLY TO REVIEWS:**

**Eaglehaze: Thanks for all the cats, but I already had Ivy and Cinder's kit planned out... but I like Barkkit for Daisy's kit. I also realized I like Larkkit better than the other kit I had in mind for Dovewing. ;) . And thanks for Ivytail's kits! And I thought Blizzardkit and Flowerkit could be Minnowtail's. Also, Jayfeather isn't exactly Leafpool's apprentice again, they're more like equals. This will be explained in chapter 3. Thanks for your cats!**

**Nova Lioness: No, the she-cat for Mosspelt and Reedwhisker isn't taken. Thanks for Skykit!**

**Goldengaze20: Can Goldenkit be Antpelt and Swallowtail's?**

**Thanks for submitting your kitties! Though I still will be excepting OCs, probably until chapter 5 or 6 (I still need the two kittypets *wink wink nudge nudge*). Anywho, ONTO THE FIRST REAL CHAPTER!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Lionblaze gazed at the camp, or what it used to be. It was in ruins. The thorn barrier was torn down, and splatters of blood lay everywhere. Near the medicine den, Cloudtail lay still. _Not another warrior!_ Lionblaze thought. _Haven't we lost enough?_

Then he noticed Cloudtail's chest stir, and Jayfeather walking out of the medicine den with herbs to treat him. Lionblaze sighed with relief. Then he noticed something. _Where was Cinderheart? She wasn't in camp._

Lionblaze's chest grew tight with worry, when he saw Cinderheart walk in camp, and stare at the ruins. She had a lot of scratches, but none of them deep enough to be dangerous. "Cinderheart!" Lionblaze yelled. When she saw him, she ran over, purring. "Lionblaze! You're okay! And not a scratch on you!" "I may not have a scratch, but I can't say the same for other cats," Lionblaze glanced at Cloudtail, and Bumblestripe, who was staggering to Jayfeather. Jayfeather's paws were working to their limit, when Leafpool announced, "Cats who need their wounds treated, come to me and Jayfeather!" Jayfeather growled with frustration as almost every cat lined up.

"I hope you and Briarlight are helping, because I only have two paws!" he snapped. The two she-cats quickly got to work. Leafpool and Jayfeather were putting cobwebs on Cloudtail's scratches while Briarlight dragged herself in the medicine den to get marigold for Mousewhisker.

_Those two cats are wounded the worst,_ Lionblaze thought. But then he saw Sorreltail. Thornclaw and Spiderleg were carrying her into camp. She had a large gash in her flank and a long scratch in her forehead. Cinderheart fallowed his gaze, and gasped. She ran over to her mother, but Sorreltail barely acknowledged her daughter.

The cats from RiverClan and WindClan looked on, not knowing what to do. Brambleclaw saw them, and mewed to Whitetail and Pebblefoot, "You can go. Your Clan needs you." Whitetail nodded, and she and Owlwhisker lifted Boulderfur, who was bleeding from where a dark forest cat clawed his stomach, and padded out of camp.

But Pebblefoot stayed put and said, "I will tell RiverClan the news about Firestar, but Mintfur won't make it there." Pebblefoot lowered his voice so Mintfur couldn't hear him. "I don't think he'll make it. His scratches are so severe." His eyes clouded in grief for his clanmate. Brambleclaw's face softened with sympathy. "If you want, he can stay here, and if he doesn't make it, we can deliver the news." Pebblefoot dipped his head. "Thank you, Brambleclaw, and good luck with ThunderClan," Pebblefoot and Troutstream walked out of camp, but Troutstream shot one last look at her dying clanmate. "Please try to get better, Mintfur," she whispered. Mintfur gave no sign he heard her, and Troutstream fallowed Pebblefoot out.

Briarlight finished tending to Mousewhisker, and dragged herself over to Mintfur. She sniffed his wounds, and then called out, "Jayfeather!" Jayfeather gave Leafpool the supplies for Sorreltail, and rushed over to where he heard Briarlight's voice. He sniffed for how much Mintfur was bleeding and felt for where the blood was coming from. He sat back from his inspection, and sighed. "He's bleeding too much, Briarlight. The best we can do is give him poppy seeds to ease his journey to StarClan." Briarlight nodded and grabbed the pile of poppy seeds near her, and passed them to Jayfeather.

Mintfur suddenly woke from unconsciousness, and gasped, "Troutstream! Is she okay?" "Was she your mate?" asked Briarlight. "She is pregnant with my kits! Is she okay?" he repeated. "She is fine. She and Pebblefoot just left camp," Jayfeather soothed. Mintfur sighed with relief. "That's all that matters," he muttered determinedly. "Lick these up, Mintfur," Jayfeather meowed as he passed him the poppy seeds. Mintfur looked up at Jayfeather, and glanced at the poppy seeds, then his scratched pelt, which had no healing herbs on it. "The only reason you would give me poppy seeds," he started. "Is if I'm going to die." "Your wounds are too severe," Jayfeather explained gently. Without a word, Mintfur licked up the poppy seeds. "Send a message to RiverClan from me," he mewed weakly. "Tell Troutstream to name one of our kits Dappledkit," Mintfur sighed. "I've always liked the name," he murmured. His eyes then closed, and his breathing got slower and slower, until it stopped altogether.

Lionblaze sighed. That was one more warrior not coming home tonight. "Put him with the others." Jayfeather gestured to Hollyleaf, Ferncloud, Mousefur, and Firestar's body. Lionblaze grabbed Mintfur's scruff in his jaws, and carefully dragged him with the other bodies.

"Jayfeather!" Leafpool called. "I need help moving Sorreltail to the medicine den. She's in a very serious condition," Leafpool mewed. "I'll help," Cinderheart offered immediately, and Leafpool, Jayfeather, and Cinderheart hoisted Sorreltail on their shoulders, with Briarlight dragging herself behind.

Poppyfrost suddenly burst into camp, and called, "Berrynose! Great news! I found Molepaw and Cherrypaw!" Berrynose, who was waiting behind Toadstep in the eternal line, got up and staggered over to his mate and kits, and purred with relief when he saw his kits only had a couple scratches, mostly from bramble thorns. "Berrynose! I ran so fast, I outpaced a stinky dark forest tom!" boasted Molepaw. "I'm sure you showed him," Berrynose purred. Cherrypaw, whose mouth was open to say something, gasped when her eyes flicked to a bright ginger pelt. "Firestar!?"

Berrynose, who just came back from WindClan, didn't yet know about the death of his leader. Berrynose looked at Lionblaze, as if asking him to tell him that Firestar was just sleeping. Lionblaze sighed and mewed, "He fought Tigerstar, and killed him, but was so injured in the process he died." Cherrypaw and Molepaw's eyes grew wide with shock, and Molepaw exclaimed, "But he's _Firestar!_ The greatest clan leader in history! He can't be _dead_." Lionblaze shook his head. "It's true."

Berrynose looked at Mousefur, Hollyleaf, and Ferncloud. "What happened to them?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the cats. "Ferncloud's neck was snapped by Brokenstar while she was defending the kits, but then Yellowfang killed him. Mousefur was killed by Darkstripe, and I don't know if he is still alive. And Hollyleaf," Lionblaze felt a lump in his throat as he remembered his sister. "She died defending Ivypool from an attack from Hawkfrost. Brambleclaw killed Hawkfrost for killing her. Sorreltail-" "Sorreltail!? She's not dead, is she!?" Poppyfrost jumped to her paws when she heard her mother's name.

"I-I don't think so. She was greatly injured in the battle, and she's in the medicine den." Poppyfrost immediately dashed to where her mother was. After a while, she came out, with a despaired look on her face. "Will Sorreltail be okay?" asked Cherrypaw. "I don't know," Poppyfrost sighed. "I just don't know."

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**There! Next chapter will be from Jayjay's P.O.V.!**


	4. Chapter 2: The Announcement

**REPLY TO REVIEWS:**

**Winxclubfan1: Thanks for submitting Silverkit and Pebblekit!**

**Guest/Waspwing: Umm, you submitted Turtlekit and Spaghetti a lot...**

**Guest: You're not too late! Thanks for your kittypet!**

**Yay! Onto second chappie! Jayjay's turn!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Jayfeather had just finished tending to the last cat's wounds. By the time he was done, it was nearly moon high. Leafpool was sleeping in the medicine den tonight, for she was watching over Sorreltail, her best friend. Just as Jayfeather was settling in his nest, he heard paw steps near the entrance, and smelled Brackenfur. _Am I going to get any sleep tonight?_ "Yes Brackenfur, what is it?" he asked flatly. "Could I come in? I'd like to be with Sorreltail tonight, if you don't mind," Brackenfur mewed. "Well, I do mind. She needs to stay perfectly still, and with your pelt pressed up against hers, I'm not so sure that will help her healing. And a grumpy medicine cat that got no sleep because his den was crowded won't do any good for the Clan," he growled.

There were already four cats in the den, plus an additional Cloudtail and Bumblestripe. "Oh. Well tell me if there are any changes," Brackenfur mewed behind his shoulder as he padded away. Jayfeather was heading back to his nest when he smelled another cat waiting by the entrance.

"What!?" Jayfeather hissed. Lionblaze stepped back in surprise. "Um, Cinderheart wants to know if Sorreltail's all right," he mewed. Jayfeather sighed. "Tell Cinderheart that she's no better, no worse, and Leafpool's watching over her. Now could I get some sleep?" he grumbled. Lionblaze, looking hesitant, quickly walked out of the den. Jayfeather picked up the moss that was scattered around from the battle and put it in his nest. He settled down in it, put his tail over his nose, and sank into sleep.

Jayfeather woke at dawn to the sound of Daisy's voice. "Jayfeather? Can I ask you a question?" Jayfeather stood up and shook the moss of his pelt. "You just did," he pointed out. Daisy ignored him. "Am I a healthy she-cat?" she asked. "Yes. Why?"

"I'm expecting kits," she mewed.

"With whom?"

"Spiderleg," Daisy replied.

"Really?" Jayfeather couldn't help the surprised comment from coming out. "I know, I know. But Spiderleg saved me from a dark forest tom, and told me he wouldn't let anyone hurt me. I'd imagine the kits will come in about a moon and a half," Daisy mewed. "Well you should be fine, you're an experienced kitter," Jayfeather reassured her. Daisy looked down at her paws, and when she looked up she asked, "How's Sorreltail?" _How many times do I have to answer this question?_ "She's still in a very serious condition. If she manages to survive this moon, she'll be okay. But for now, I can't say," he told her. "If she wakes up, tell her I stopped in," she meowed.

Jayfeather was sorting herbs when Brambleclaw came in. Jayfeather sensed anxiousness and worry coming from the new Clan leader. "Jayfeather, I've been trying to figure out when we should do our fallen clanmates vigil and when I should go to the moonpool to get my nine lives," Brambleclaw mewed. "If I were you I would have Firestar's vigil tonight, and the next night we'll go to the moonpool. But what are you going to do about the RiverClan warrior Mintfur?" Jayfeather asked. "We'll bury Mintfur here. I can't afford to go all the way across the lake. We have to focus on rebuilding our camp, and for that, we need all our warriors," he decided.

It was almost sundown when the nursery was finally rebuilt. The cats that were strong enough to work on it went over to the fresh-kill pile to fill their hungry bellies. Purdy, the only elder now, was rubbing rosemary and watermint on the dead cats. Sandstorm and Dustpelt came over to Purdy to help him, for there was only one elder, and four bodies. Purdy nodded his thanks as he rubbed parsley on Hollyleaf's pelt. Many rumors were going around the Clan the two cats would join the elder's den, for both of their mates were killed in the battle.

Lionblaze padded up to Jayfeather and mewed, "Want to share a vole?" The happiness in his tone was forced, for the vigil for their dead sister was close. "Sure," Jayfeather responded. When they were finished, Cinderheart walked out of the medicine den and lay down next to Hollyleaf without a word. Lionblaze got up and went over to comfort his mate by licking her between the ears. Jayfeather headed over to his brother and settled down next to Hollyleaf's soft fur, and closed his eyes.

He opened them to find he was standing in a clearing. He glanced around, and spotted a matted gray pelt walking toward him through the heather, and sighed. "What omen and or prophecy is it this time, Yellowfang?" Jayfeather growled. "What makes you think every time I visit your dreams I have a prophecy or omen?" "Because it's true," grunted Jayfeather. "Funny, Bluestar and I were recently talking about how when StarClan cats meet up and talk, it's always about a prophecy." "Well? _Are_ you here to tell me a prophecy or omen?" "Yes," answered Yellowfang. "How surprising," Jayfeather rolled his eyes. Yellowfang looked thoughtful for a moment before meowing, "Actually, it's a warning mixed with an omen." "What is it!?" hissed Jayfeather. "Apparently you haven't learned any patience with all your experiences," Yellowfang grumbled. "_The four have saved the Clans. But beware, for the leopard is coming_." "What's that supposed to mean?" Yellowfang just shook her head. Jayfeather was about to open his mouth to ask another question, but then noticed he could see the ground through his paws. "Remember what I said," Yellowfang breathed in his ear. Jayfeather whirled around to look at her, but she was well a couple fox-lengths away.

When Jayfeather woke up, his face was still buried in his sister's soft fur. Sandstorm stood over him, and mewed, "It's time to bury Hollyleaf, Jayfeather." Jayfeather got up and shook himself, and watched Sandstorm and Purdy carry Hollyleaf's body out of camp. He padded to his den, where Brackenfur was guarding his mate. Sorreltail was asleep, but she kept twitching, as if she couldn't get comfortable with all her wounds. Brackenfur watched him closely as he walked to his nest to lie down.

Briarlight, who was counting herbs, mewed, "Jayfeather, are you alright?" as she dragged herself over to him. "Oh, no wonder you're tired, no one ever checked your wounds." Just as Jayfeather was about to protest, he felt his pelt, which was criss-crossed with scratches. He let Briarlight put on the marigold and cobwebs, and when she finished, he asked, "Do you want something from the fresh-kill pile?" "I'm in the mood for magpie. I bet there is at least one; there has been so much prey around lately," she meowed. As Jayfeather turned to head to the fresh-kill pile, he passed Cinderheart, who was getting a mouse for her mother, and stopped. _Cinderheart smells…different_, he thought. "Cinderheart, see me in my den." Cinderheart looked confused, but nodded.

Once he swallowed his last bite of sparrow, Jayfeather checked Sorreltail, who ate only a little bit of Cinderheart's mouse before falling back asleep. Sorreltail was slowly getting better, but there still was a high risk of her being the fifth cat to die in the Great Battle. "You said you wanted to see me in your den?" mewed Cinderheart from the entry way. Jayfeather walked up to her, and noticed that she seemed a little plumper, along with the strange scent. He suddenly remembered when Daisy visited, and that her scent was almost identical to Cinderheart's scent now. _The milk scent!_

"Cinderheart, I believe you are pregnant," Jayfeather stated. Cinderheart stared at him, her eyes wide like a owl's. She instantly ran across the camp like an excited kit. She quickly whispered in Lionblaze's ear, and his tail started to twitch excitedly. He then whispered back into his mate's ear, and Cinderheart nodded. Jayfeather stopped listening from the entrance to the den and headed off to count the watermint.

Suddenly he heard a crash and Briarlight mew, "What are you kits doing in here?" "We want to see Sorreltail," a little squeak replied back. "Sorry, you're going to have to leave. Sorreltail needs rest to recover," Briarlight explained. Lilykit and Seedkit dejectedly walked away in the dust. Briarlight turned and said to him, "Poor little scraps. They don't know what a serious condition their mother is in." Jayfeather's ear twitched, and Sorreltail weakly meowed from the nest beside him, "Was that Lilykit and Seedkit?" at the sound of her voice, the two kits quickly dashed back into the den. Apparently, they only acted like they left.

"Mother! You're awake!"

"Guess what? I caught a beetle today!"

"Sorreltail, did you hear the news?"

Lilykit and Seedkit chirped. "What news?" asked Sorreltail. "Older sister Cinderheart is going to have kits! And I think her mate is Lionblaze," Seedkit added smartly. "Of course it's Lionblaze!" Lilykit batted her sister's pale head. "Cinderheart? Pregnant already? I guess I am older than I thought," Sorreltail murmured. "You're not old! You're still young!" Seedkit protested as she climbed on Sorreltail's back. Sorreltail hissed with pain as Seedkit put her weight on a wound. "Okay, that's enough. Sorreltail needs to rest now," Briarlight mewed as she scooped the kits toward her.

After Lilykit and Seedkit left the den, Jayfeather got settled in his nest and hoped this night didn't have any interruptions. But when Brambleclaw came in, Jayfeather instantly jumped to his paws. "I'm ready to receive my nine lives from the moonpool."

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**So Daisy is expecting her third litter, and Cinder's expecting her first! **

**By the way, next chapter will be Jayjay again!**


	5. Chapter 3: Nine Lives

**REPLY TO REVIEWS**

**Nova Lioness: I like Skyheart too. :) But I already have MossXReed's tom kit.**

**Redfur: Yay! Thanks for Falconkit!**

**Winxclufan1: Ya, I'll use Silverkit, Pebblekit, and Starlingkit.**

**Stuffed Watermelon: Hmm... I have parents in mind for those. Thanks! ;)**

**Creekfur: Mini lions EVERYWHERE! :D**

**Guest: I'll use Turtlekit, and thanks for making her a tom. :)**

**I can't believe I forgot to do this!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own warriors or any of the original characters. I only own the plot and my kitties.**

**Kay, so now onto Bambley's nine lives ceremony!**

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**Chapter 3**

"Watch your step, its steep here," Jayfeather warned Brambleclaw. He then heard rocks rolling, and a large splash in the water. "Ow!" Brambleclaw exclaimed. He shook his wet fur, making droplets spray onto Jayfeather. "Sorry, I was nervous, so I was shaking and I tripped." Brambleclaw apologized.

"Why are you so nervous?" "I'm afraid StarClan will reject me for being Tigerstar's son," he admitted. "So why did StarClan let Tigerstar be leader, and why did they send you on the quest to find Midnight?" Jayfeather questioned. "I guess all leaders are nervous before they get their lives," he assumed. "Now just so you don't ask me later, I _can_ see in my dreams," Jayfeather told him. "Really?" "Yes. Now touch your muzzle to the moonpool, and StarClan will send you sleep," he mewed. Jayfeather bent his muzzle, and felt the starlight water soak his tongue. He settled for a comfortable position, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, all of StarClan were gathered around, and he recognized Mousefur, now looking young; and Bluestar, who he'd seen so many times in his dreams, but there was no Spottedleaf. "Welcome Brambleclaw. Are you ready to receive your nine lives?" one cat seemed to ask the question, but so many familiar voices were in it. "Yes," Brambleclaw nervously but surely replied.

A pale golden she-cat went over to Brambleclaw, and he mewed, "Goldenflower!" and rubbed his muzzle against hers. Goldenflower then placed her muzzle upon his forehead. "With this life I give you protection, to protect your Clan as if they were your own kits," Brambleclaw's claws ripped at the ground, as if he was imagining enemies attacking his Clan.

The next cat to pad up had a familiar gray-flecked pelt, and Jayfeather instantly knew who it was. It was Ferncloud. "With this life I give you love. Use it for all the cats in your care, and especially Squirrelflight," Brambleclaw's expression softened, as if he was gazing into his mate's forest green eyes.

Once he saw the next cat, Brambleclaw jumped to his paws. "Feathertail! You aren't with the Tribe of Endless Hunting!"

"I walk both skies," she told him. She put her muzzle on his forehead, like Goldenflower had done. "With this life I give you bravery. Use it to do something you know is right," she meowed. Brambleclaw winced, as if something had suddenly stabbed right through him. Curious, Jayfeather crept into Brambleclaw's mind, and saw himself dislodging a bunch of rocks, and looking down, seeing a giant mane-less lion below him. He succeeded in making a rock fall, but in the process, getting crushed by it. He looked up to see a much younger version of his father, Crowfeather, looking anguished at him. _This must be how Feathertail died!_ He snapped out of Brambleclaw's mind as Feathertail moved her muzzle away.

The dark gray tom who had been sitting next to a lighter gray one headed over to Brambleclaw. "Rainwhisker," Brambleclaw breathed. "With this life I give you justice, to treat your clanmates fairly. Though you know not to judge cats, having to prove yourself being Tigerstar's son." A bolt of lightning seemed to go through him, and he hooked his long, curved claws into the ground.

The cat to replace Rainwhisker filled Jayfeather with joy. It was Hollyleaf! "Hollyleaf!" Brambleclaw lovingly licked his foster daughter between her ears. "With this life I give you loyalty. Use it to stay true to what you believe in." Jayfeather knew why Hollyleaf gave loyalty; her whole life she always tried to stay loyal to the warrior code. As she padded away, she looked at Jayfeather, and her eyes had all she could ever say. She sat back down next to a ginger-and-white tom… Fallen Leaves? Jayfeather sat back in surprise when he saw their tails were twined. _I have time to wonder about that later_, he told himself.

A fluffy gray she-cat with blue eyes bounded over to Brambleclaw next. "Cinderpelt?" his eyes were full of shock and astonishment. "But you're Cinderheart!" Brambleclaw protested. "When Cinderheart chose to be a warrior, she let me go, so she could have a mate and kits, something as the ThunderClan medicine cat I never got to have." "Mate and kits?" Brambleclaw echoed. Cinderpelt's eyes sparkled with mischief. "That's something you're going to have to find out when you go home. But now, with this life I give you courage. Use it to accept your destiny and to protect you Clan." Brambleclaw's eyes were wild with terror, but then courage overtook it.

_Six lives down, three more to go_, Jayfeather thought as Bluestar came up. "With this life I give you compassion. Use it for all the cats weaker than you." Brambleclaw stiffened with pain as he received the life. Before Bluestar padded away, she murmured to him, "I knew I picked the right cat when I chose you to go to the sun-drown-place."

The next cat was grumpy Mousefur. Though she didn't seem as grumpy, now that her youth was restored. "With this life I give you humor. Use it to lighten the mood of your Clan when times are bad." Brambleclaw's fur stood on end when he received this life.

The last cat, his pelt glowing with an orange flame, was Firestar. "Brambleclaw, my apprentice and deputy, and now, leader of my Clan," he greeted him. "You have had to prove yourself over and over as Tigerstar's son, but you also proved you are a worthy successor," Firestar meowed. Brambleclaw bowed his head. "You taught me everything I know," he replied. Firestar put his muzzle in-between Brambleclaw's eyes. "With this life I give you wisdom, so you know when a battle should and should not be fought, can and cannot be avoided." Brambleclaw's claws dug into the ground, as if he was fighting not to fall over. "I hail you by your knew name, Bramblestar!" Firestar declared. The rest of StarClan quickly took up the cheer, even Jayfeather joined in, calling "Bramblestar! Bramblestar!" The newly named leader bowed his head. "I will try my best to follow in your pawsteps and to be at least half of the cat you were," Bramblestar meowed to Firestar. "You will be a great leader for ThunderClan," Firestar promised him.

Jayfeather blinked open his eyes, blind once more. Bramblestar got up and shook himself, and asked, "What did Cinderpelt mean when she said Cinderheart would have a mate and kits?" Jayfeather snorted. "Didn't you know about Cinderheart and Lionblaze? She's expecting his kits, you know?" "Really?" the new leader's voice was filled with surprise and delight. "Well let's head back to the Clan," Bramblestar mewed. "Now that I'm leader, I have some ceremonies to do."

"How'd the ceremony go?" Squirrelflight asked from where she was guarding the entrance. "It went fine," Bramblestar licked her between the ears. He then dashed on the Highledge and called, "All cats old enough to catch their own prey, join me beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

Brightheart and Daisy with the five kits peeked out of the nursery, and Dustpelt and Sandstorm slowly padded out of the warriors' den. Once every cat was gathered, Bramblestar mewed, "Dustpelt and Sandstorm, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go join the elders?" None of the cats seemed very surprised; many rumors were predicting this since the cats' mates died in the Dark Forest Battle. "Yes," decided Sandstorm. "It is," Dustpelt meowed. "Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given us. I call upon StarClan to give you many seasons of rest." Birchfall and Icecloud were talking to each other and taking quick glances at their father. Jayfeather thought that they probably didn't know Dustpelt decided to retire.

"I also have two more things to do," Bramblestar added, and the Clan looked at each other in surprise. "Leafpool, during the battle, you proved yourself a much better medicine cat than warrior. So I am giving you your full medicine cat status back." At first Leafpool looked shocked, and Jayfeather felt her gaze burning his pelt, wondering if he approved of this, and jumped up to her paws when he slowly nodded. "Thank you, Bramblestar," Leafpool meowed.

"And lastly, Lilykit and Seedkit, step forward," Bramblestar said. Brackenfur took one glance at his daughters and gasped. "Cinderheart! Poppyfrost! Help me clean them!" Brackenfur and Cinderheart worked on Lilykit, while Poppyfrost frantically helped clean Seedkit, while the kits insisted they could do it themselves. When they finished, the two kits nervously stepped up, and the leader put his tail on Seedkit's shoulder. Bramblestar, with his eyes full of amusement, mewed, "From this moment forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Seedpaw. Thornclaw, you mentored Poppyfrost and Briarlight, and I want you to teach Seedpaw to have the same loyalty and bravery."

Thornclaw nodded, and stepped closer so he could touch noses with Seedpaw. Seedpaw however, tripped, and bumped her nose onto Thornclaw's, hard. She then backed up, and lightly tapped her nose against Thornclaw's more gently this time. A ripple of amusement passed through the cats.

Lilykit, who was holding back laughing at her sister, came forward and Bramblestar put his tail on her shoulder. "From this moment forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Lilypaw. Toadstep, this will be your first apprentice. Pass on the enthusiasm and energy that makes you a good warrior," Bramblestar meowed. Toadstep, looking excited as his apprentice, touched his nose against hers, a lot less painful than Seedpaw and Thornclaw's had been.

"Seedpaw! Lilypaw! Seedpaw! Lilypaw!" the Clan cheered. "The meeting is over," Bramblestar declared as he disappeared in his new den. As the cats started to depart the clearing, Leafpool padded up to Jayfeather and mewed, "Thank you for letting me be a medicine cat again." Jayfeather just twitched his ear. "Why waste your skills? Come on, let's check on Sorreltail," he mewed.

Just before they were about to walk in, Briarlight frantically dragged herself to the entrance. "Sorreltail's not breathing!" she exclaimed. Leafpool instantly rushed to Sorreltail's side, and Jayfeather put his ear against her chest. He turned Sorreltail over on her side, and noticed that her long belly wound had opened up while she was sleeping, and that the moss was damp with blood.

"She's dead," Jayfeather quietly announced. "She can't be dead!" Leafpool protested. She put her paw on Sorreltail's chest, and when she felt no heartbeat, she yowled in grief.

"What's going on?" asked Brackenfur as he dashed in the den at Leafpool's yowl. "Sorreltail's dead!" Leafpool said like she still didn't believe it. Brackenfur buried his face in his mate's cold fur. "Sorreltail… don't leave me. What about Lilypaw and Seedpaw?" he murmured. Jayfeather turned to the golden-brown tom, and gently mewed, "I'm sorry Brackenfur, but she's gone."

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**Sorreltail :'( **

**P.S., I don't need anymore kits, but you can submit kits to come in later in the story. Just don't include Parents or Clan.**

****Next chapter will be Ivy!****


	6. Chapter 4: The Gathering

**REPLY TO REVIEWS**

**PrincessKatniss02: Thanks, but I already have Cider and Dove's kits planned out.**

**Willowsmoke of ShadowClan: Thanks for submitting Moonkit!**

**Winxclubfan1: Yay! Poolkit! And thank you for telling me their warrior names!**

**Redfur: Thanks for Mistkit!**

**Guest: Dawnkit can be called Dawnbreeze. It's pretty...**

**Guest: Thanks, but someone already submitted kits for Ivytail.**

**Guest: Kay! I'll use Blitzen! **

**Guest: Twigkit. I like it.**

****Guest: I like Lightningstorm.****

**Sorry I didn't update in a while! Here's Chapter 4!**

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**Chapter 4**

The bright sunlight shining through the warriors den woke Ivypool. She blinked open her eyes and sighed. It had been half of a moon since Sorreltail's death, and Brackenfur didn't go on patrols as much as he used to. But ever since the battle with the Dark Forest ended, there had been no cats interrupting her sleep to train her battle skills. She arched her back and stretched, and noticed Dovewing's nest was empty. _Probably out on patrol_, she thought.

When she went outside, she noticed the sun wasn't far from touching the land. _Wow, I slept in! Maybe I needed to catch up on more sleep than I realized_. Bramblestar was talking with Squirrelflight and Graystripe, and when Squirrelflight saw her, she meowed, "Sleepy paws is awake! You should join Thornclaw's hunting patrol." Ivypool nodded, and padded to the camp exit where Thornclaw, Hazeltail, and Seedpaw were waiting.

Seedpaw was bounding around Thornclaw excitedly, mewing, "I'm going to catch a bird today! A really big bird! Like a crow!" Thornclaw purred at his apprentice. "I think you need to grow a little more to catch a crow. How about you aim for a smaller kind, like sparrow?" he asked. Ivypool looked at how excited Seedpaw was. She seemed mostly recovered from Sorreltail's death. The same couldn't be said for her sister Lilypaw, but she was coping. "Okay!" Seedpaw agreed.

When they arrived at the Sky Oak, Thornclaw mewed, "Okay, we'll split up. Seedpaw and I will hunt here, and Ivypool and Hazeltail can go near the WindClan border." "Come on Ivypool! Race you!" Hazeltail mewed as she dashed off. Ivypool strained her legs to catch up, and she steadily drew ahead of her opponent. She skidded to a stop at the WindClan border. "Good race!" she mewed to a panting Hazeltail. Hazeltail suddenly ducked, crouching on the ground. "Shh! Turn aroud!" Ivypool spun around to see a shrew scuffling under a fallen leaf. She signaled to Hazeltail to go around the shrew to block its escape. Ivypool went into the hunter's crouch, and pounced. Her tail whipped against the leaves a second before she landed, and the shrew dashed right into Hazeltail's paws, and she snapped its neck. "Nice catch," Ivypool complimented her.

The she-cats had caught a mouse, two voles, and the shrew when they reached the stream that separated ThunderClan and WindClan territory. They were about to head back when they spotted a WindClan patrol made up of Whitetail, Harespring and his apprentice Larkpaw, and Ivypool's old Dark Forest clanmate, Sunstrike.

"Hi, Ivypool," Sunstrike meowed. "Have you seen Breezepelt and Nightcloud? They went missing three nights ago," she blurted out. "Why would they go missing?" Hazeltail wondered. "Ever since the Dark Forest battle, because he attacked his clanmates, we kept Breezepelt prisoner for betraying us. But then, three nights ago, Nightcloud helped Breezepelt attack the guard, Emberfoot, and then they ran off," Harespring explained. "No, we haven't seen them, but we'll tell you if we do. Are you going to tell the other Clans at the Gathering tonight?" Hazeltail mewed. "Yes, Onestar's planning to. Well, thanks anyway," Whitetail spoke this time. The Gathering! Ivypool wondered if Bramblestar would take her. She wanted to find out if her friends- Dark Forest or not- survived the attack. "Don't worry; we'll keep an eye out for them!" Hazeltail called after the departing patrol.

"I want Graystripe, Thornclaw, Millie, Mousewhisker, Lionblaze, Foxleap, Toadstep, Blossomfall, Ivypool, Cherrypaw, Lilypaw, Seedpaw, Dustpelt, and Sandstorm to come to the gathering," Bramblestar listed. As she headed for the Gathering Island, Ivypool fell in step beside Blossomfall. "This is definitely going to be an interesting Gathering," she commented. "Yeah," Ivypool agreed. "I wonder which cats from the other Clans didn't survive the battle. The odds of ThunderClan losing five cats and the other Clans losing none are extremely unlikely," stated Blossomfall. Ivypool nodded. It was going to be_ very_ interesting.

When they got to the Tree Bridge, WindClan got there at the same time. Onestar dipped his head and said, "ThunderClan can go first." Ivypool gripped her claws on the slippery bark, and heard Thornclaw say from behind her, "Be careful, Seedpaw. The bark is slipperier than it looks." Once she got to the other side, she looked for her RiverClan friend, Hallowflight.

"Who are you looking for?" a cat mewed from behind her. Ivypool jumped. A short fluffy light brown tabby she-cat with bright blue eyes was looking at her expectantly. "My name's Rushtail," the she-cat introduced herself. "What's yours?" "I'm Ivypool," Ivypool sniffed the she-cat, and smelled RiverClan. "Where's Hallowflight?" she asked. Rushtail looked down at her paws, and then mewed, "Hallowflight was injured in the Dark Forest battle." Ivypool pricked her ears. "Will he be okay?" Rushtail nodded. "He was defending Mossyfoot from a gray-and-black tom, and got his belly slashed," she explained.

Suddenly Ivypool heard Blackstar's yowl from the tree, and the cats immediately quieted down. "Bramblestar, you can go first," Blackstar told him. Bramblestar stepped forward, and his voice echoed around the hallow. "As you all probably know, Firestar was killed in the battle. He died from wounds that Tigerstar gave him, but succeeded in killing him it the process." "Firestar was the wisest leader," Mistystar mewed, her eyes clouded. "He and I may not have been the best friends," Blackstar boomed, "but he was a great leader for his Clan." Onestar didn't say anything, but his eyes gleamed with sadness. "And ThunderClan lost cats, just as I'm sure you all did. We lost Firestar, Mousefur, Ferncloud, Hollyleaf, and Sorreltail died a few days later, and Sandstorm and Dustpelt decided to retire to the elder's den." Bramblestar meowed. "But I also have good news. My deputy is now Squirrelflight, Cinderheart and Daisy are pregnant, Leafpool has returned to medicine cat position, and Sorreltail's kits, Lilypaw and Seedpaw, are now apprentices." "Seedpaw! Lilypaw! Seedpaw! Lilypaw!" the Clans cheered. Bramblestar sat down, and nodded to Mistystar to go.

"RiverClan lost four cats; Duskfur, Pouncetail, Robinwing, and Mintfur. But RiverClan also has good news. Mosspelt had three kits with the names of Quietkit, Skykit, and Turtlekit. Minnowtail and Troutstream are pregnant, and we also have new apprentices, kits of Duskfur, called Curlpaw and Podpaw," Mistystar finished. "Curlpaw! Podpaw! Curlpaw! Podpaw!" the cats cheered. Mistystar sat down, and Onestar took her place.

"Our Clan was fortunate to lose only three loyal cats," Onestar began. _He must be meaning that Breezepelt and Nightcloud aren't one of the loyal cats he lost,_ Ivypool thought. "We lost Leaftail and Boulderfur, and our elder Webfoot. And Nightcloud and Breezepelt have run away, and if you see them, please tell one of our patrols. But Swallowtail gave birth to Antpelt's kits, Starlingkit and Goldenkit, and Furzepelt moved into the nursery." Onestar announced, then stepped back, making it Blackstar's turn.

"ShadowClan was unfortunate, for we lost six cats. Shrewfoot, Smokefoot, Scorchfur, Snaketail, and Nettlekit all walk StarClan now. But one cat betrayed us, so I killed him myself." Some of the cats in the clearing whispered to each other at this, and Ivypool could pick up the words "traitor" and "evil," but Blackstar quickly raised his tail for silence. "Like the other Clans, we have good news to. Ivytail is pregnant with Owlclaw's kits, and Kinkfur's kits, Mistpaw, Dewpaw, and Sparrowpaw are now apprentices. Mistpaw has been apprenticed to Littlecloud." "Mistpaw! Dewpaw! Sparrowpaw! Mistpaw! Dewpaw! Sparrowpaw!" the Clans called. "If no one has anything else to report, the Gathering is dismissed," Blackstar mewed. The other Clan leaders shook their heads.

"RiverClan, let's go," Mistystar jumped off the tree first. "Bye, Ivypool," mewed Rushtail as she got up to follow her clanmates. "See you later, Rushtail," Ivypool said.

"Wow, ShadowClan sure lost a lot of cats," mewed Blossomfall beside her. Ivypool leaped the WindClan border stream and landed on her own territory. "I know. Their camp almost got taken over by Dark Forest warriors. They're lucky they didn't lose more," agreed Ivypool. "And did you notice ThunderClan and RiverClan were the only Clans without traitors?" Blossomfall asked. When Ivypool looked confused, she explained, "ShadowClan was betrayed by Redwillow, and WindClan was betrayed by Breezepelt and Nightcloud." "ThunderClan's lucky to have such loyal warriors," Ivypool shrugged.

"That was an interesting Gathering," Dovewing commented when Ivypool settled down in her nest. "How- oh yeah," for a second Ivypool forgot about her sister's powers; she didn't _need_ to be at the Gathering to know what happened. She could watch the whole thing from her nest. Ivypool closed her eyes, and waited for the sleep where nothing would disturb her anymore.

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**Yay! Done! Chapter 5 will be from Dovey's point of view. It takes place three moons after Sorreltail's death, and Cinder's kits will be born!**


	7. Chapter 5: Kits

**REPLY TO REVIEWS: **

**Redfur: Thank you!**

**Pebblewish: Thanks! I will!**

****Guest: Sometime between chapters 12 and 14.****

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**Chapter 5**

"Dovewing, are they here yet?"

"Dovewing, I want to play!"

"I'm hungry!"

Dovewing sighed. While Cinderheart was kitting, she was in charge of watching Snowkit, Amberkit, and Dewkit, along with Daisy's new litter, Smokekit and Barkkit. It had been three moons since Sorreltail's death now, and Daisy's kits were almost a moon, and Brightheart's kits were three moons. Smokekit was a smoky-gray tom with pale blue eyes, and Barkkit was a brown tom with a white tail tip, black throat, and leaf-green eyes.

"Dewkit, I don't know when the kits are going to get here; Smokekit, what do you want to play; and Snowkit, if you're hungry get something from the fresh-kill pile," Dovewing answered. Snowkit ran over to the fresh-kill pile and picked up a plump squirrel about the same size as himself. He dragged it over to the other kits and mewed, "Hey Smokekit and Barkkit! Have you ever tried fresh-" Snowkit was cut off from a yowl from Cinderheart in the nursery. "Is Cinderheart okay?" Amberkit nervously asked. "I'm sure she's fine," Dovewing replied, trying to convince herself as much as the kits.

Barkkit reached a paw forward to poke the squirrel, and then squeaked, "Am I supposed to eat that?" "Yup! It tastes really good! Do you want the first bite?" Snowkit offered. Barkkit shrunk back, but Smokekit reached forward and took a large mouthful from the tail. He chewed it for a second, then spat out a mouthful of fur. "How can you like this? It's too fluffy!" Smokekit frantically ran around in a circle, looking for a puddle where he could rinse the fluff out of his mouth. The other four kits thought this was hilarious, and rolled on the ground, purring. Once Smokekit got the fluff out, he repeated, "How can you like this?" Snowkit finally stopped laughing long enough to answer, "You're not supposed to bite off the tail, mouse-brain!"

Smokekit's eyes darkened with anger, and he pounced on Snowkit. Snowkit, unprepared, was flattened under Smokekit's weight. Dovewing, realizing the skirmish was getting out of paw, mewed, "Who wants me to listen to a place far away?" The kits instantly stopped tussling and Smokekit mewed, "See what RiverClan's doing!" "No, ShadowClan!" Dewkit argued. "WindClan!" declared Snowkit. The kits argued about this until Barkkit blurted out, "StarClan!" The other kits stopped and stared at him. "She can't spy on StarClan, silly," Smokekit told his littermate. "Well, if she can spy on the Dark Forest, why not StarClan?" Barkkit argued. The other kits looked thoughtful, until Snowkit finally said, "Spy on StarClan, Dovewing!"

"I don't think I should," Dovewing mewed uncertainly. "Why?" Dewkit asked. Dovewing was saved from an awkward conversation by Jayfeather. "Two toms and a she-kit," he informed his brother Lionblaze, who had been pacing outside the nursery. When Lionblaze dashed in, Snowkit declared, "Come on guys! Let's meet our denmates!" Dovewing was trampled by a stampede of kits, and mewed, "Wait!" too late. She found the five kits standing by their mothers when she came in the nursery. The kits were gazing at three small bundles of fluff suckling at Cinderheart's belly. Lionblaze stood beside her, gazing proudly at his offspring.

"That one looks like a hedgehog," Dewkit giggled, pointing to a fluffy cream tom with a brown back and a lighter front paw and a light dash above his nose. "Then that's what we'll call him," Cinderheart decided. "Hedgehogkit."

"How about we call the brown tabby tom with cream paws and muzzle Mudkit," Cinderheart suggested. "I like Mudkit," decided Lionblaze. Lionblaze then looked at the she-kit, which was a black tabby. "Hollykit," Lionblaze and Cinderheart mewed at the same time. "So Hedgehogkit, Mudkit, and Hollykit," Lionblaze meowed. "Can the kits take a closer look at them?" asked Daisy, whose fluffy tail was wrapped around Bakkit and Smokekit. "Okay, but tell them to be careful," Cinderheart warned. "We will," the kits promised. Amberkit looked at Hollykit and squeaked, "Finally another she-cat!" "Can I teach them how to like squirrel when their old enough?" Snowkit asked. "If you want to," Cinderheart answered. Dovewing, feeling cramped in the small nursery, went outside for a breath of fresh air.

"Did you hear the news?" her mate Bumblestripe asked. "What news?" "Cherrypaw and Molepaw are having their warriors' assessment today," he announced. "Good for them. Where are they going to do it?" Dovewing wondered. "They already did the fighting part. Now they're going to practice hunting near the abandoned Thunderpath. And it's a team hunting assessment. Bramblestar wants you to be on Cherrypaw's team, since you'll find a lot of prey," he explained. "He wants you to wait by the camp entrance with the others," Bumblestripe flicked his tail to the entrance where Foxleap, Rosepetal, Blossomfall, Graystripe, Cherrypaw, and Molepaw were waiting.

"Whose team am I on?" Dovewing asked Foxleap. "You're with me, Cherrypaw, and Lionblaze once he comes out of the nursery." Just then Lionblaze bounded over and said, "Squirrelflight told me to come over here. What are we doing?"

"We're doing team hunting near the abandoned Thunderpath for their warriors' assessment," Rosepetal explained, gesturing to the two apprentices. "You will be on Cherrypaw's team along with Foxleap and Dovewing. Blossomfall, Graystripe and I will be on Molepaw's team. The apprentices are in charge of the patrol, but the warriors can help find prey," she glanced at Dovewing. "But we must do what the apprentice says and not help them with clues," Rosepetal finished. "Let's go."

Once the cat arrived at the edge of the Thunderpath, Molepaw mewed, "My team will hunt near the lake." "We'll go near the abandoned two-leg nest," Cherrypaw licked her lips. "It's always crawling with mice."

Dovewing gazed at the two-leg nest, and felt shivers go up her spine like it always did. Cherrypaw signaled with her tail to circle two plump mice eating seeds in Jayfeather's garden. She pounced on one, and the other one ran right into Foxleap's claws.

Cherrypaw was making progress, since she had already caught five mice. Then Dovewing's ear twitched and she heard the Thunderpath rumbling. _But it's an _abandoned_ Thunderpath, _Dovewing thought. "Let's head for the bushes," Dovewing mewed. "But _I_ decide where to go. This is _my_ warrior assessment," protested Cherrypaw. "I hear something," Dovewing snapped. Cherrypaw, knowing of Dovewing's power, didn't hesitate to dash toward the bushes, her mentor and Lionblaze following. She remembered her time in the two-leg place looking for the beavers, and knew that was the sound of a monster.

It was so loud Dovewing was sure the other cats could hear it by now. "I hear something," Cherrypaw mewed, confirming Dovewing's thoughts. Dovewing crouched lower as the sound grew louder, and a white monster with a back that seemed to stick out zoomed on the gravel Thunderpath, a large trail of dust behind it. Dovewing coughed, and Foxleap commented, "Well _that_ was unusual." He looked at Dovewing, expecting her to say something, but she heard something else. With alarm, she thought, _is that a kit?_

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**Teehee! Cliffie! **

**This will be the last chapter where I'll be accepting OCs. Once I post chapter 6, I won't be accepting Ocs. Thanks!**

**~Petalsplash**

**Please review! (And if anyone can guess who/what the kit is. . . virtual brownies! :)**


	8. Chapter 6: Warrior Ceremony

**REPLY TO REVIEWS**

**Nova Lioness: :)**

**Amberstorm233: Thanks!**

**winxclubfan1: Thanks for submitting Iriskit and Rosekit! I'll be sure to use them!**

**Snowfeather487: Thanks! And I can fit in your two OCs!**

**Strikestar: Thanks for Claws! Hmm... Ashfoot_ is_ getting a little old... ;)**

**Pebblewish: Okay!**

**Guest: Thank you!**

**Sorry for not updating in a couple weeks. Yay 9 reviews! You guys are awesome!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Lionblaze coughed as the dust flew up his nose. He glanced at Dovewing, and saw her ears were pricked, and she seemed to be staring at the Thunderpath, her eyes narrowed as she gazed inside the dust cloud. "What is it, Dovewing?" Foxleap asked. She didn't answer, but she padded on the Thunderpath, her tail stirring up the dust until she was hidden in the cloud. "Dovewing?" Cherrypaw called.

"Dovewing!" she called louder when Dovewing didn't answer. "You have to come see this!" Dovewing mewed from inside the dust cloud.

The dust was dying down a bit, and Lionblaze saw a cat form, which he assumed to be Dovewing, bending down, looking at an odd shaped object on the ground. The three cats sprinted over to the gray she-cat, and Lionblaze, studing the shape, mewed, "It's a cage. Squirrelflight told me stories of when she had to rescue Leafpool from one of these things." "I don't care what it is," Dovewing meowed. "I care about what's in it."

Confused, Lionblaze looked through the firm webbing that hid what was inside. Under a soft, moss-like cover, was a round shape that seemed to be…_breathing?_

"It's a kit!" Dovewing exclaimed. "What are you looking at?" Lionblaze whipped his head around to the speaker, and saw a gray tom racing towards them. "Molepaw sent me to look for prey down the Thunderpath," Graystripe explained. "Is that a cage?" he asked when he saw what they were looking at. Cherrypaw nodded. "Can you open it?" she questioned. "I think so." As Graystripe set to work. "The last time I opened one of these," he grunted. "Was when I got captured by twolegs." _Pop_. The catch freed and the cage door slowly opened.

A spotted head peeked above the soft moss-like cover, and when it saw the cats, it quickly put its head back in. Foxleap poked his head into the cage and suddenly yelped and jumped back, a fresh scratch on his nose. "What ever it is, it has claws!" he warned.

"Maybe you should try a gentler approach," Dovewing suggested. She stood just outside the entrance and mewed, "Hi, my name is Dovewing. My friends and I don't want to hurt you," she soothed. The spotted head popped up once more, and squeaked, "You have milk?" Dovewing looked surprised that it responded, but went on. "I don't have milk, but I know someone who does. Are you a lost kit?" "I don't know, but I want milk!" it repeated. "If you come out, I can take you to milk," Dovewing offered. Reluctantly, it stepped out, and it turned out to be a large, golden spotted, she-kit.

It looked around at the five cats, and squeaked, "Where's my milk?" "Cherrypaw and Foxleap, you continue with the assessment. Lionblaze, Dovewing and I will take this kit back to camp and send other cats in our place," Graystripe decided. Foxleap nodded in agreement as Lionblaze scooped up the kit by its scruff. The kit didn't protest at being carried, and Lionblaze noticed she had a couple scratches here and there, slicing through her soft fur.

"Back from the assessment so soon? I thought it would take you longer than that to- wait, is that a kit?" Squirrelflight's surprised mew greeted them. "We found it in a cage on the abandoned Thunderpath," Graystripe explained. Lionblaze put the kit down in-between his paws. "She says she wants milk," Dovewing spoke for it. "Bring it to the nursery," Squirrelflight bent down so she could be eye level with the kit. "How old are you, and what is your name?" she asked her. "Don't know," she squeaked. "I'd say it's about a couple days old," Lionblaze guessed. Squirrelflight picked up the kit, and headed toward the nursery, with Lionblaze following.

"Cinderheart," Squirrelflight meowed. Cinderheart looked up at the sound of her name. "Will you nurse this kit until Bramblestar decides what to do with it?" Squirrelflight set the kit down, and at the smell of milk, it dragged itself over to Cinderheart and found a place to suckle between Hedgehogkit and Hollykit. Cinderheart's gaze softened when she looked at the kit, and she mewed, "She can stay here until Bramblestar makes his choice."

Squirrelflight walked out of the nursery and turned to Lionblaze. "Get Graystripe, Cloudtail, Brackenfur, Thornclaw, and Spiderleg to meet in Bramblestar's den. We need to discuss the kit." Lionblaze popped his head in the warriors den, listed the names, then turned to head to where Bramblestar made his nest. Squirrelflight was speaking urgently in her mate's ear, with Leafpool and Jayfeather discussing in hushed voices nearby. Bramblestar meowed, "Squirrelflight just told me what happened."

Just then the senior warriors padded into the den. "This is about the kit, isn't it?" Graystripe asked. Bramblestar nodded. "What kit?" wondered Cloudtail. "A monster went on the abandoned Thunderpath, and a spotted golden kit in a cage fell out the back. It's with Cinderheart now," Lionblaze explained. Jayfeather's ear pricked up as he described the kitten. "What I want to decide is whether or not to keep the kit," Bramblestar meowed. Spiderleg snorted. "Well we _all_ know what Firestar would decide. But if we do keep this kit, let's let the other Clans think this kit is clanborn. They have no reason to know otherwise, and I'm tired of these kittypet lover taunts." "I agree with Spiderleg," added Thornclaw. "Okay, but first we have to decide if we are or aren't keeping the kit," decided Bramblestar.

"_I_ think we should get rid of it," Spiderleg hissed. "Where will it go, then?" murmured Leafpool. "We know nothing of where it came from, unless you plan to walk up to the monster and say, 'Hey Monster, you dropped a kit. Would you like it back'?" Leafpool scoffed. Spiderleg and Thornclaw shared an uncertain glance, for they both knew Leafpool was right.

"I believe we should keep it," Jayfeather mewed. "It would give our Clan a huge advantage." "How? It's a _kit_," Thornclaw meowed.

Jayfeather didn't reply, but turned his sightless gaze to Squirrelflight. "Squirrelflight, how old did you say this kit was?" Jayfeather asked her. "I'd guess a couple days," she answered. "And how big is the kit?" Jayfeather questioned. "About the size of Brightheart's kits," Squirrelflight replied. "And Graystripe," Jayfeather turned toward the gray tom. "What does this kit look like?" Graystripe thought for a moment, the replied, "She is golden, with soft fuzzy fur, small brown spots with a darker ring around them, a paler underbelly, and round ears." "This isn't a kit," Jayfeather paused so he could face each cat in turn with his blind blue gaze. "This is a leopard."

Lionblaze stared at his brother in surprise, his mouth open. Bramblestar looked equally shocked, but thoughtful too. "A leopard on our side of the battle _would _be a great advantage," He considered. "If it can learn to follow the Warrior Code," Spiderleg muttered. A couple of the cats looked at each other uncertainly. "Does anyone object to the kit staying?" Bramblestar asked. Everyone shook their head, though some looked doubtful. "Then it is final. Cinderheart will nurse her along with her other kits," he glanced at Lionblaze for approval, and he nodded. "I will hold a Clan Meeting at twilight."

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, join me beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" the familiar call rang. Cherrypaw and Molepaw padded out of their den to the Highledge, their fur gleaming in the moonlight. _It looks like they passed the assessment_, Lionblaze realized. They took their place below the ledge, and their eyes shone with excitement.

"I, Bramblestar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices." Cherrypaw puffed out her chest fur. "They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." Molepaw importantly held his head high. "Molepaw and Cherrypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"I do," Cherrypaw's mew was quiet, but full of certainty.

"I do," Molepaw confidently stated.

"Then, by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names." Bramblestar's tail ran against Cherrypaw's flank. "Cherrypaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Cherryblossom." He stepped back, and Cherryblossom respectfully licked his shoulder. "StarClan honors your determination and loyalty."

Molepaw then padded up, trying to stay still, but Lionblaze could see he was quivering. "Molepaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Moleclaw." The new warrior licked Bramblestar on the shoulder. "StarClan honors your courage and strength, and we welcome you both as warriors of ThunderClan," Bramblestar announced.

"Moleclaw! Cherryblossom! Moleclaw! Cherryblossom!" the Clan cheered. The new warriors stood proudly, their amber eyes gleaming.

Once the cats quieted down, Bramblestar continued. "Many of you have heard of the kit on the Thunderpath. After a discussion with my senior warriors, I have decided to let it stay in the Clan, in Cinderheart's care. The kit will be known as Spottedkit."

The Clan almost immediately got into groups and started muttering to one another, some saying Bramblestar was turning as soft as Firestar, others saying it should go back to where it came from. Lionblaze noticed that Moleclaw went over to the group of senior warriors, like he was one already. Lionblaze turned away and headed for his brother, Jayfeather. "What do you think of that?" he mewed. "I think they'll learn to accept it," Jayfeather answered. "Yeah, but some cats don't understand that," Lionblaze looked at Dustpelt and Birchfall, who were whispering to each other and casting occasional glances to Bramblestar's den.

"Oh, and Jayfeather," Lionblaze said remembering something. "Spottedkit has a couple scratches. Could you check on her in the nursery?" "Sure." Jayfeather turned to the nursery, Lionblaze following close behind.

"Lionblaze!" Smokekit greeted him when he came in. Hollykit, Mudkit, Hedgehogkit, and Spottedkit were all sleeping next to Cinderheart, cuddled into a great ball of kitten-fluff. Cinderheart blinked tiredly at him, and meowed, "It's about time you got Jayfeather! Spottedkit's scratches need tending." Spottedkit stood out from her foster littermates; like a red rose in a field of white daisies with her golden dotted coat. Jayfeather picked up the sleeping kit by the scruff, and began to inspect her for injuries. Leafpool, who was checking on Daisy's sneeze, mewed, "I'll get you some marigold and cobwebs to put on Spottedkit. It's hard to heal without those."

Leafpool ran out of the nursery, and came back with herbs in her jaws. Jayfeather put Spottedkit in a position where he could feel for the injuries. Spottedkit, looking uncomfortable, squirmed and squeaked, "What you doing?" "I'm checking your scratches," Jayfeather replied. Spottedkit grimaced when he put the pulp on her wounds, and failed as she tried to wiggle away from Jayfeather's firm paw. When he finished, she turned to lick off the pulp.

"Don't!" Jayfeather warned. "If you want it to get any better, you need to let it stay." "Fine," she grudgingly mewed. She snuggled down next to her foster mother, and quickly fell back to sleep. Lionblaze was about to lay down next to his mate, but he caught a quick glance from Jayfeather.

He gestured with his tail for his brother to follow him, and he paused by the camp exit.

Jayfeather turned on him, his eyes dark. "Lionblaze, get Dovewing. We need to talk."

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**Duh duh duh! (dramatic music)**

**And I accidentally said I wouldn't be accepting OCs, but I meant I wouldn't accept Clan cat OCs. I still have some room for rouges/loners/kittypets. *looks down at feet and blushes* Oopies. **

**By the way, nest chapter is Jayjay again.**

**So do you think we would be able to get to 50 reviews? The 50th reviewer will get virtual cookies! (nom nom nom...)**


	9. Chapter 7: The Moonpool

**REPLY TO REVIEWS:**

**Nova Lioness: Yup :D**

**OC submission: Thanks for submitting Oynx! **

**Willowsmoke of ShadowClan: Thanks for the rouges! I have ideas for them!**

**Winxclubfan1: Personally, I really like the names Irisfrost and Roseflower. Thanks for telling me!**

**Shiningfur: Big, buff, Graystripe! And both the Sorreltail and Leafpool things I found out on the Warriors Wiki. Apparently Sorreltail had died from her injuries in the Dark Forest battle, and I was like "Nooo! Now I have to kill Sorreltail!" :'(**

**Jayfeatheris Awesome: Wow. You really went into depth with Crystal. I like that. I have a lot of ideas for her character, and I'm sure she could make an interesting appearance. Oh, and keep an eye out for a little appearance by her in this chapter :)**

**LOLSAUCE: Thank you for submitting Blu!**

**Breaniver: Sorry, but I already have kits for those cats.**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a month! Oh! And Pebblewish, you were the 50th reviewer! *Passes box of soft sugar cookies with Jayfeather and Stick frosting designs* And here's a Smokekit plushie *throws plushie.* In fact, cookies for everyone! I got nine more reviews then I asked for!*claps paws and watches Jayfeather and Stick cookies fall from the sky***

**Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors.**

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**Chapter 7**

"Well? What is it?" Dovewing asked. She, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze were meeting in the forest near the Sky Oak. Jayfeather paused, and took a deep breath.

"On the night of the Dark Forest battle, I received a message from StarClan. Yellowfang came to me in a dream. She told me, _'The four have saved the Clans. But beware, for the leopard is coming.'_ And I'm sure we all know who the leopard is." Dovewing and Lionblaze exchanged glances.

"Is that a good omen, or a bad omen?" Dovewing finally meowed.

"I'm not sure. But I can tell you, this kit is going to play a major part in ThunderClan's future," Jayfeather answered.

"What do you think she will do? Spiderleg was right when he said that she might turn out to be a great warrior, _if_ she learns to follow the warrior code. If she doesn't, well, I don't want to know," Lionblaze mewed.

"You're her foster father," Dovewing pointed out. "You can help her on that path." Lionblaze nodded. "I'll try. I think I should go back to camp now. Squirrelflight wants me on border patrol." With that, he bounded away, his golden tail streaming behind him.

"Jayfeather, do you think Spottedkit will have a good future?" Dovewing asked uncertainly. Jayfeather sighed. "It's too early to tell. But we can hope Lionblaze sets her paws on the right path."

"Are you hungry? I can't fit this entire blackbird in my stomach. Lilypaw is becoming quite the hunter." Briarlight's voice snapped Jayfeather out of his thoughts. "Sure. I haven't eaten yet," replied Jayfeather. Brairlight slid the remains of the blackbird across the stone floor of the den, and Jayfeather slowly took a bite. Once he bit into it, he realized how hungry he was, and quickly gulped down the rest.

"So, Jayfeather, what have you been thinking about?" Briarlight murmured. "Spottedkit," Jayfeather answered honestly.

"Well if you're that worried, you could ask StarClan tonight. If I'm keeping track of the day's right, tonight's the half-moon." Briarlight meowed.

Jayfeather's thoughts drifted to his fellow medicine cats. Lots had changed between them since the Dark Forest battle, such as Leafpool going to the moonpool again, and Mothwing coming, too. Jayfeather assumed that she believed in StarClan now because it's hard to deny it when you see them it in front of your own eyes. Then there was Littlecloud's new apprentice, Mistpaw. She was very enthusiastic, always asking questions. And it was about time Littlecloud got an apprentice; he _was_ the oldest medicine cat, after all. But one thing for sure was that the medicine cat bond was tighter than ever before since the uniting of StarClan.

Jayfeather felt his former mentor's pelt brush his. "Watermint, yarrow, poppy seeds, borage, feverfew… Jayfeather, we are really running low on herbs. I need to go out and collect them," Leafpool announced. When she padded out of the den, Jayfeather heard her call, "Cherryblossom! Toadstep! Lilypaw!" The three cats turned to face Leafpool. "I have to gather herbs, and need more paws to carry them. Will you help me?" Cherryblossom nodded, and Toadstep whispered to his apprentice, "We'll do battle training later." Lilypaw look disappointed but followed her mentor with her tabby tail swishing the brambles.

Suddenly something hit Jayfeather on the side of his head. He whipped around in the direction it hit him from but heard giggling on the other side. "Amberkit, you're supposed to throw it _over_ Jayfeather's head, not on it!" It was Snowkit's voice, with Barkkit and Dewkit chuckling beside him. He then felt the moss ball wiz by his ear. "Nice shot!" complimented Amberkit. Spottedkit puffed out her fur. "I told you I'm old enough for this, Snowkit!" she chirped. Jayfeather ducked down as he felt the ball go near his whiskers.

"We win! The ball dropped on your side!" declared Dewkit. "No! If Jayfeather hadn't ducked down, it would have bounced on yours!" argued Smokekit. Jayfeather felt the kit's hot glare on his pelt. "What are you guys doing?" hissed Jayfeather. "We're playing moss toss. We have to hit the moss ball over the cat in the middle. If the ball lands on your side, the other team gets a point," Dewkit explained, unfazed by the angry medicine cat. "And we would have _won_ if the cat didn't duck away," Smokekit muttered.

"What are you doing?" Brightheart's angry mew sounded behind him. "And can't you find something that's not a cat to be the middle line?" "I guess we could use a log," Snowkit conceded. The kits then instantly dashed off in all different directions to look for the object.

"Sorry, Jayfeather. I'm not used to three times the pawful of mischief!" Brightheart sighed. "It's fine," Jayfeather reassured her. "I better look for them. They could get into a lot of trouble, knowing those three," Brightheart turned away and headed to the warrior's den to look for the mischievous kittens.

When he entered the den, he sensed amusement pulsing from Briarlight's pelt. "What's so funny?" "Oh, nothing. The kits didn't surprise you with anything, did they?" she asked innocently. "Please don't tell me you taught them the game moss toss." Briarlight snickered. "They looked so bored, and they had fun," she reasoned. Jayfeather sighed.

He then scented Leafpool across the camp, with Cherryblossom, Toadstep, and Lilypaw, all with the sharp scents of herbs on their pelts. They set the herbs down next to the entrance, and quickly dashed away to finish their patrol. "Briarlight, will sort the herbs? Leafpool and I need to go to the moonpool."

"Sure thing. I suppose I owe you after that little kit prank," she giggled.

When they got on the edge of the moor, Jayfeather smelled the fishy tang of RiverClan, and recognized Mothwing and Willowshine. "Good to see you, Leafpool," the golden cat touched muzzles with her friend. "Am I late?" Jayfeather heard Kestralflight's worried mew as he ran from the heather. "No. Not yet. Littlecloud and Mistpaw haven't arrived yet," Willowshine assured him.

The medicine cats headed down the rocky path to the moonpool once Littlecloud and Mistpaw showed up. Since her mentor was talking to Leafpool and Mothwing about Tallpoppy's sore pad that caused him to be late, Mistpaw decided to go and pester Jayfeather with her usual questions.

"So what was it like when you first met StarClan? This is only my second time, and I think it's really cool being able to talk to former clanmates!" Mistpaw gave a little bounce. "We're not supposed to tell others about our dreams," he reminded her, his ears flattened against his head. Mistpaw looked disappointed for a second, but then brightened up as she asked, "What was it like being one of the three? Do you think I'm included in a prophecy? I bet I'll be a hero to the Clans!" Jayfeather burst with relief when they reached the moonpool.

"Join Littlecloud now," he told Mistpaw. Mistpaw settled down beside her mentor, lapped at the water and settled down for dream sleep. Once all the other had curled up, Jayfeather took a drink from the starry water, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he found himself in a pine forest with nettles pricking under his paws. He heard talking up ahead, and saw Flametail meowing to Mistpaw. "How do you like being Littlecloud's apprentice?" he heard the ginger tom mew. Mistpaw's tail flicked excitedly. "It's great! But there are so many herbs to remember; how will I memorize all of them?" Flametail purred. "Littlecloud is a great teacher. You'll know them all by the time you get your medicine cat name." Mistpaw opened her mouth to speak, but before Jayfeather could hear what she replied, he felt the familiar sour breath on his neck.

"Spying _again?_ I thought once the prophecy was fulfilled you would learn some manners. Unless this is becoming a habit," Yellowfang rasped. "I woke up here. I had no intension to go in Mistpaw's dream!" Jayfeather protested. He paused as a memory flickered at the back of his mind.

"I must say, StarClan isn't usually literal with its prophecies," Jayfeather pondered. "Unless something else is the leopard." "What do you think?" Yellowfang asked dryly. "But if you think about it, that omen is already finished. But do you have an omen saying what the leopard will do?" he pressed.

"StarClan has received nothing yet." Jayfeather whipped around to the new speaker. His heart filled with joy as he recognized his sister Hollyleaf. She was weaving around the trees, her black pelt glittering. "You finished exploring?" Yellowfang turned to ask her. Hollyleaf licked her lips. "Finally! StarClan's _huge_! My favorite place is the Warm Rocks. So many juicy mice and voles. I just left the marsh and found you talking to Jayfeather."

"You were right when you said the cub will be a major part in ThunderClan's future." When Jayfeather saw the flame-colored coat heading through the trees, with the stars glowing in his fur, the cat was unmistakable. "Firestar." Jayfeather dipped his head to the former ThunderClan leader.

"Firestar! Back from the meadow so soon?" Yellowfang questioned. "I like to go where my paws take me," he replied. A question suddenly burned in Jayfeather's mind.

"What happened to the Place of No Stars after the battle?" Yellowfang exchanged a glance with Firestar, but Hollyleaf mewed, "It's still there. It just has a lot less cats, because Tigerstar, Brokenstar, Hawkfrost, Shredtail and a bunch of other cats died."

Glancing down at his paws, Jayfeather realized he was fading. "Bye, Jayfeather!" Hollyleaf called. Jayfeather blinked his eyes and was blind once more. He felt the gazes of the other medicine cats on his pelt, and realized he was the last to wake up. He shook himself to his paws and walked down the twisted path to their territories. Suddenly he felt a prick in his paw, and turned it over to find a jay's feather stuck on it. Jayfeather tried to shake it off, but it clung on, so he ripped the feather off with his teeth. He licked his lips, and tasted something sweet. _Is that honey?_

"Bye, Littlecloud!" Leafpool called. They were now on ThunderClan land, and Littlecloud was steadily heading to the ShadowClan border, with Mistpaw scampering ahead of her mentor, then slowing for him to catch up. It was silent on the way to the camp, until Leafpool finally said, "It's strange, going back to my medicine cat duties and going to the moonpool so suddenly. Lionheart thought I may have forgotten his name. But I got to see Sorreltail again. She told me she was pleased with Bramblestar's choice of the mentors for her kits." Leafpool sighed, and her amber gaze had a faraway look in them, as if she was pondering everything happening so quickly.

Jayfeather felt happier than he had been recently. It was good to work alongside Leafpool again, like in the days when she was his mentor. But she wasn't as bossy now, and they helped each other instead of Leafpool being completely in charge. "I saw Hollyleaf and Yellowfang," he told her. "Did they say anything?" Leafpool asked him. Jayfeather sighed. He knew that he should tell her about the omen sometime, and he best do it while they were alone.

"Before Sorrreltail died," he began. "Yellowfang came to me in a dream. She told me, _the four have saved the Clans. But beware, for the leopard is coming._" Leafpool stopped walking.

"The leopard is Spottedkit, isn't it?" "Yes." Leafpool glanced in the nursery through the thorn barrier.

"Does Bramblestar know?" she wondered. "Not yet," Jayfeather replied. "You do plan on telling him, don't you?" Leafpool queried. "I need to tell him before Spottedkit's apprenticeship so he can choose the right mentor for her," Jayfeather answered.

Once they entered the medicine den, Briarlight greeted them with a purr. "How was it at the moonpool?"

"The usual," Jayfeather replied without turning his head in her direction. He turned to his nest and settled down for sleep.

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**Next chapter will be from- actually, it's a surprise ;) If anyone guesses right, virtual cookies! (Hint: it's not one of the usual P.O.V.s)**

**Yup, still accepting rouge/kittypet/loner OCs.**

**~Petal**


	10. Chapter 8: A New Perspective

**REPLY TO REVIEWS**

**Nova Lioness: Thanks!**

**Pebblewish: Bingo!**

**SnowCrystal802: Sorry, I already have kits for Daisy, unless you would like me to put Flamestone under different parents. And I will accept Spotty, I'm just not sure I'll be able to have her join ThunderClan. Thank you!**

**Amberstorm233: Thank you for your advice! I'm happy you put it in such a nice way. And thank you for submitting Bark!**

**Winxclubfan1: Yup :)**

**Yeah, I know chapter seven wasn't to exciting, but this one's better. And virtual cookies to Pebblewish and Winxclubfan1! *Gives Winxclubfan1 sugar cookies with Firestar and Sandstorm frosting designs and to Pebblewish Power of Three sugar cookie frosting designs.* The P.O.V. was. . .(drum roll). . . SPOTTEDKIT! Anyway, ON WITH DA CHAPTER!**

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**Chapter 8**

Spottedkit's gaze was fixed on her prey. She pinpointed its position, wiggled her haunches, and pounced.

"Ouch!" Lionblaze turned toward her, his gaze full of surprise.

"I got it!" Spottedkit exclaimed. Lionblaze sighed. "Couldn't you find a different warrior's tail to claw?" Spottedkit sat down with a thump.

"Well, I tried Dovewing, but she heard me. Hedgehogkit bet me I couldn't do it, and he was right." Lionblaze rested his tail on her shoulder. "Maybe next time," he comforted her.

"Well, there's nothing to do now that Dewkit, Snowkit, and Amberkit are apprentices. It's so boring!" she complained.

Dewpaw had been apprenticed to Graystripe, Snowpaw had been apprenticed to Icecloud, and Amberpaw had been apprenticed to Dovewing. "When do I get to be an apprentice?" Spottedkit grumbled.

"When your six moons old," Lionblaze reminded her. "But that's two more moons of waiting!" she protested. Lionblaze nudged her with his nose. "How about you go get some fresh-kill for Sandstorm. Maybe she'll tell you a story." Spottedkit sighed, but bounded over to the fresh-kill pile and inspected it for the plumpest piece of prey. She then saw a nice fat squirrel at the bottom, its fluffy tail sticking out.

_That ought to get up Sandstorm's appetite!_ Just then, her foster sister, Hollykit, ran over. "Who's the squirrel for?" she asked, licking her jaws hopefully. "Sandstorm," Spottedkit replied. "I'm hoping she'll tell a story."

"Ooh, I love stories! I'll help carry it." Together the two kits grabbed the squirrel's legs, and walked over to the elder's den. She heard Purdy rambling inside, and was glad it was Sandstorm's story she was going to listen to, as opposed to Purdy's.

She set the squirrel down at Sandstorm's paws. Sandstorm turned from where she was talking to Dustpelt, and looked at the two kits.

"Is the squirrel for me?" she asked, nudging it with a paw. Hollykit and Spottedkit nodded, and Sandstorm bent down to sniff the prey. She glanced at the kits, who were staring at her with wide, expectant eyes.

"Oh, you want a story, I presume?" she asked. "Yes, please," Hollykit squeaked.

"Now let's see . . . have I told you about the great journey?" "You have," Dustpelt reminded her from where he was munching a sparrow.

Sandstorm's expression turned thoughtful, and she turned back to the kits and mewed, "The Dark Forest battle?" "A million times," Dustpelt meowed.

"What about that one time when your father and his sibling went fox hunting?" Spottedkit pricked her ears. She hadn't heard that one before.

"I want to hear that one!" Hollykit lashed her tail enthusiastically. Sandstorm settled down into a comfortable position, neatly wrapping her tail over her paws, and began to speak.

"When Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf were almost six moons old, Thornclaw and Spiderleg came back from a patrol, and announced that they found a dead fox near the Sky Oak. Your father was tired of being treated like a kit, so he told his siblings that if they kill or chase away the dead fox's cubs, they might become apprentices early. So they set out to find the fox cubs. But instead of getting rid of the cubs, the _cubs_ got rid of _them_. They chased Lionkit, Hollykit and Jaykit until a patrol saved them. But Jaykit ran over the tall side of the hollow and fell in."

Hollykit laughed. Spottedkit thought it was funny to picture her father- who could now take on a full-grown fox single-pawed- running from cubs.

"And then Leafpool had to fix Jaykit up. You kits should have seen the lecturing Firestar gave those two. He was not happy." Hollykit giggled some more, but Spottedkit didn't pay attention to her sister.

"What did Firestar look like?" she wondered. Sandstorm didn't pause to think about her mate's description. "He was a bright ginger, and whenever he stepped into the sunlight, his pelt glowed like flame. And he had these deep, emerald eyes, and you could just get lost looking in their depths. . ." Sandstorm broke off.

"You should go back to the nursery now. Sandstorm needs some alone time," Dustpelt told the kits. Spottedkit followed Hollykit out of the den, and cast one last glance at the elders. Dustpelt was mewing in Sandstorm's ear, and she rested her head on his shoulder, a sad expression in her eyes.

Hollykit bounded over to Lionblaze, who was by the fresh-kill pile, trying to decide between a crow and a mouse. "Did you really try to go fox hunting when you were kits?" she asked. Lionblaze sighed. "Sandstorm _had_ to tell you that story, didn't she?"

While Lionblaze was talking to Hollykit, Spottedkit snuck up and quickly grabbed the mouse and turned so she was facing the opposite direction of Lionblaze, so he wouldn't see her. She gulped it down as quickly as she could, and was chewing the last morsel when she heard her father exclaim, "Where's my mouse?!"

He spun around and saw Spottedkit's jaw moving. "What's in your mouth?" he asked suspiciously. Spottedkit swallowed, covered her thick tail around the prey bones, and as innocently as she could, replied, "Nothing." Lionblaze sighed again. "Looks like I'm having crow." He picked up the bird and headed over to the nursery, where Cinderheart was waiting for him. He settled down beside her, and bent down to take a bite.

Suddenly Spottedkit heard rustling at the camp entrance, but her neck fur flattened when she recognized Lilypaw and Seedpaw with their mentors. Seedpaw seemed to be bursting with excitement, and ran over to the first cat she saw, which happened to be Spottedkit.

"Guess what?" Seedpaw didn't give time for her to answer.

"Thornclaw and Toadstep were talking, and they said that Lilypaw and I would have our warrior's assessment tomorrow!" she jumped up and down as if she couldn't contain her energy.

"I know! Your warrior name should be Seedbounce!" Spottedkit joked. Seedpaw gave her a friendly glare. "I believe you _meant_ Seedamazing!" she puffed out her pale ginger fur.

"Seedpaw!" Thornclaw called. Seedpaw ran to her mentor, her tail excitedly flicking side to side. Spottedkit turned around to see Amberpaw watching their conversation wistfully.

"When's your warrior's assessment?" Spottedkit asked her. Amberpaw sighed. "Not for a couple moons at least. But I'm fine with staying an apprentice a little while longer. Dovewing's an awesome mentor."

Spottedkit felt a twinge of jealousy that Amberpaw's mentor was one of the best cats in ThunderClan, and she wouldn't get her as a mentor, but she pushed it away. She was pretty sure she'd get someone just as good.

"Though are you sure you'll have Dovewing your whole apprenticeship? I wouldn't be surprised if she started expecting Bumblestripe's kits any day now," Spottedkit pointed out. Amberpaw shrugged. "I think Dovewing would have the cutest kits in the world."

"If you say so," Spottedkit mewed.

"Hey, Spottedkit!" she whipped around to see her cream-and-brown brother, Hedgehogkit. "You missed out on a really good game of moss toss. Smokekit and I _destroyed_ Shrewkit and Mudkit." Spottedkit rolled her eyes. Hedgehogkit was turning into Berrynose, judging by how much boasting he was capable of. "Is that all you came to tell me?" "No. Cinderheart says it's time to go in the nursery before we freeze our noses off."

Spottedkit fluffed out her fur. She didn't feel cold. But her fur was a lot thicker than her foster siblings, so she reluctantly followed Hedgehogkit in the den. Her eyes slowly got adjusted to the dim light, and she saw Daisy licking Shrewkit as he tried to squirm away. She then noticed how matted and filthy his pelt was. Spottedkit turned to Smokekit, who was sitting beside her.

"How did his pelt get so dirty?" she asked him. "Shrewkit dived for the moss ball into a mud puddle. Unfortunately, he didn't make the moss ball go over the log, but it looked good while he was diving," Smokekit tried to mew cheerfully.

"How many points did the game stop at?" she wondered. "Nine to two," Smokekit drew his paw over his ear. "Poor Mudkit. He doesn't know how to toss correctly," he commented.

"This is only his third time playing. He hasn't practiced that much," Spottedkit defended her brother.

"Spottedkit, here's a shrew for you!" Spottedkit turned to see Cinderheart nudge a shrew toward her. "I don't think she needs it," Lionblaze put a paw on the shrew. "She just had a mouse."

Spottedkit's stomach grumbled. She was a lot bigger than the other kits, and growing fast. She needed as much prey as she could get.

"No, I need it! I'm still hungry!" she protested. Cinderheart exchanged a glance with her mate, and Lionblaze lifted his paw off the shrew. Spottedkit ran over to it and took slow bites, remembering something that Squirrrelflight told her about eating prey slower fills your stomach longer. Smokekit bent over and whispered in her ear, "Badger."

Spottedkit growled. She wasn't going to let him get away with that comment. She suddenly leaped on Smokekit, sitting on him and pinning him with her greater weight.

"What were you saying?" she asked. "Nothing!" he quickly gasped. She jumped off him and licked the shrew's remains off her lips. "Spottedkit! You shouldn't wrestle so roughly with the other kits!" Cinderheart meowed sharply.

"Why?" Spottedkit snapped back.

"They're always wrestling. So why can't I?" Cinderheart leaned over and whispered something in Lionblaze's ear. Lionblaze sighed.

"Spottedkit, come with me." Puzzled, Spottedkit followed her foster father out of the nursery to a small space behind the medicine den.

Lionblaze took a deep breath. "Spottedkit, you know you're adopted, right? That I'm not your real father and Cinderheart's not your real mother?" Spottedkit nodded.

"So?"

"Do you know where you're from and what you are?" Spottedkit tilted her head.

_Why is he asking these questions?_ "I'm a cat," Spottedkit meowed. Lionblaze shook his head, and took a deep breath.

"On the day your foster siblings were born, on Cherryblossom's warrior assessment, a monster dropped you in a cage on the old Thunderpath." Spottedkit still didn't know where this was going.

"So?" she repeated.

"Have you ever heard the tales about LionClan, and TigerClan, LeopardClan? The cats big enough to bring down a deer?" he asked. Spottedkit slowly nodded.

"Well, LeopardClan cats are big. They are golden with small brown spots with a darker ring around them. They have a paler underbelly, and round ears. Just like _you._"

Understanding suddenly hit Spottedkit as she connected the dots. _That's why I'm so much bigger than the other kits! That's why Cinderheart worries so much about me and the other kits safety! That's why the warriors sometimes stare at me suspiciously_, she thought bitterly.

"Lionblaze?" she asked nervously. "Yes?" "Even though I'm a leopard, will you still love me?" Lionblaze nuzzled her. "Always," he promised. "Then I'll be the best warrior I can be."

* * *

**Next chapter's P.O.V. will be from Ivypool's sister's father's mother's mother's sister's daughter's daughter's once-thought-to-be-evil daughter. Virtual cake and Spottedkit plushie for whoever guesses it right! And some kit's will be made apprentices :) Oh! Also last chapter to submit OCs.**


	11. Chapter 9: Apprentices at last!

**REPLY TO REVEIWS**

**Sorrelheart: You got it!**

**Lilacstream99: Thank you for submitting Chestnut!**

**Pebblewish: Thanks for submitting Bob, Shroom, Ukulele, and Burr! And Spottedkit is an Arabian Leopard, the smallest kind, and one of the most endangered. If you want to know the answer to the rest of your questions, read my new story, _When the Poachers Came._**

**Guest: Thank you for your cats!**

**Winxclubfan1: I do like Lilycloud for Lilypaw's warrior name, but I already have Seedpaw's warrior name planned out. You'll find out what they're called in this chapter, actually.**

**RagingContent: Thank you for Silverkit, Trixie, and Chase!**

**George: Thanks for submitting your cat!**

**Amberstorm233: :)**

**SnowCrystal802: Your welcome :)**

**Redfire: Yeah, Redfire is an awesome name. Thank you for submitting your cats! **

**Thank you guys for all your awesome reviews! We're just nineteen away from a hundred! And I got 15 reviews this chapter! That's a new record! Also, sorry I haven't updated in a while.**

**Check out my new story, _When the Poachers__ Came._ It's about what happened before Spottedkit was found on the Thunderpath, and how she got into the monster. **

**Oh, and I'm having trouble figuring out who Ivypool's mate should be. Should it be Mousewhisker, Foxleap, Toadstep, or Moleclaw? I have a poll on my profile I would like you guys to vote on about that matter, and guests can submit their opinions in reviews. **

**I found a new cover for this story! I think this one is pretty cool, but the old one was awesome too. Also, in case any of you were wondering, I decided to put updated allegiances on my profile page. It shows everyone currently, like Cinderheart and her kits, and all the OCs submitted (whether they're an apprentice or not by now, who their siblings and mentors are, stuff like that). So check it out to see if you kind find your OC! (If it's not there, it's probably not born yet.)**

**And Sorrelheart, Pebblewish, and Winxclubfan1 found out about my little trick and guessed the surprise P.O.V. right! It's Ivypool! *Hands each of them a three layered cake with leopard print frosting designs.* Oh, and here's the plushie! *Throws three super soft huggable Spottedkit plushies.* **

**Phew, that was _a lot_ of authors notes. Anywho, on with the long-awaited chapter 9!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

"Ivypool!"

Ivypool turned her head to see Millie calling to her from the camp entrance.

"We're patrolling the WindClan border. Join us!" Millie exclaimed.

Millie's tail was twined with Graystripe's as they headed to the WindClan border. Blossomfall fell in step beside Ivypool with Dewpaw scampering behind.

Once they arrived at the stream marking the borderline, Graystripe renewed the scent marks, but Dewpaw quickly yelped to alert his mentor.

"Graystripe! Over here! I smell WindClan scent on our side of the border!"

Graystripe dashed over to his apprentice and sniffed at the ground.

"Your right," he murmured.

Ivypool followed the tom and sniffed the scent with Blossomfall beside her. She narrowed her eyes. The scent was faintly recognizable. Blossomfall met her gaze, and mewed, "I think I've smelled this scent befo-" she was cut off as a hiss exploded from a nearby bush.

Ivypool swung around to see a scrawny tom pinning Dewpaw, the apprentice's eyes wide with horror and shock.

"Breezepelt!?" exclaimed Blossomfall.

Breezepelt glanced at her, and his eyes lit up as if he spotted a juicy piece of prey. He leaped on Blossomfall, with Dewpaw laying on the ground behind him, gasping for air.

"Get off her!" Graystripe flung himself onto Breezepelt and held his leg in his teeth. Ivypool suddenly felt claws dig into her tail.

"Nightcloud?" she wondered. The black she-cat didn't respond, but jumped at her, with her claws extended. Ivypool dodged and raked her own claws across Nightcloud's flank, and Nightcloud howled with pain.

Breezepelt jumped off Graystripe and skidded beside Nightcloud, his claws leaving scars in the dirt.

"Don't touch my mother!" he spat.

Ivypool pricked her ears at the sound of running. She turned her head to see a WindClan patrol consisting of Ashfoot, Gorsetail, Sedgewhisker, and Crowfeather. Ashfoot leaped on top of Nightcloud and twisted her paw with her teeth. Breezepelt's burning amber gaze turned to Crowfeather.

"You!" he snarled. Breezepelt turned on Crowfeather, his eyes burning with hatred, and jumped on his back, but Crowfeather rolled with him, and Breezepelt was flattened under his father's weight. Breezepelt and Nightcloud, realizing that they were terribly outnumbered, took off into the heather, with Gorsetail and Sedgewhisker streaming after them.

Ashfoot turned to the ThunderClan patrol. "Thank you for catching Nightcloud and Breezepelt. They _will_ be punished for their crimes."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Ivypool thought she saw Crowfeather stiffen at the deputy's statement. Graystripe nodded to the deputy, and the two WindClan warriors dashed where their clanmates ran off to.

* * *

When the ThunderClan patrol arrived back at camp, Lilycloud glanced up from the magpie she was sharing with her sister. She and her sister, Seedstem, had taken on their warrior names two moons ago.

"What happened to you?" Lilycloud asked. Blossomfall flicked her tail.

"Breezepelt and Nightcloud happened."

"Did you bring them to WindClan?" Seedstem wondered.

"Who are Breezepelt and Nightcloud?" asked a small voice behind her. Ivypool turned to see Mudkit standing next to his brother, Hedgehogkit.

"Just a couple of rouges," Ivypool answered dismissively. Barkpaw poked his head out of the apprentice den.

"Rouges? Near the WindClan border? I thought I smelled something when I went training with Poppyfrost."

Ivypool glanced at the apprentice. A moon ago he had been given to Poppyfrost to mentor him, and his brother Smokepaw had been given to Bumblestripe.

"Why didn't you say anything?" demanded Blossomfall. Barkpaw looked down at his paws.

"I thought it was my imagination," he mumbled.

Ivypool suddenly felt the pain in her tail from Nightcloud's claws. She stalked off toward the medicine den, where Leafpool was pressing marigold on Dewpaw's shoulder, and Jayfeather was tending to Millie's paw. Briarlight saw her, and carried over some cobwebs and marigold.

"Where's it hurt?" she asked.

"My tail," Ivypool answered. She tried not to flinch as the stinging juices of the marigold went into her wound. When the brown she-cat finished wrapping it up in cobwebs, Ivypool blinked her thanks, and went outside.

"Ivypool!" Ivypool turned to Graystripe, who was padding out of Bramblestar's den.

"Bramblestar wants to talk to you," he informed her. Ivypool jumped on the Highledge into her leader's den. She found Bramblestar sitting in his nest with Squirrelflight beside him.

"Ivypool," Bramblestar greeted her. Ivypool dipped her head.

"You are aware that Cinderheart's kits are six moons old now, right?" he asked. Ivypool nodded. _Does Bramblestar want me to mentor one of them?_ she hoped excitedly.

"I've been thinking, and I've decided all the kits mentors but one," he continued.

"Who?" Ivypool couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Spottedkit. If you're up to the task, I would like you to mentor her," Bramblestar meowed. Ivypool snorted.

"_Up to the task?_ What's so hard about mentoring a kit?"

Squirrelflight spoke up this time. "Nothing would be to complicated if Spottedkit were a kit. But Spottedkit isn't a kit. She's a cub. A leopard cub, for that matter." Ivypool's jaw dropped.

"H-How many cats know about this?" she stammered.

"Cinderheart, the medicine cats, and the senior warriors," the ginger she-cat replied.

"_You_ want _me_ to mentor a _leopard?_" Ivypool asked.

"That's exactly what I'm asking. I believe there's no better cat to teach her the warrior code, and the meaning of loyalty." She quivered with pride at the fact the Clan leader trusted her with this task in her paws.

"I won't let you down," she promised.

* * *

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join me beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Ivypool looked up from the vole she was sharing with Toadstep.

"I wonder what this is about," Toadstep grunted as he got up to his paws. Ivypool didn't reply, but settled down between him and Smokepaw.

"Hedgehogkit, Hollykit, Mudkit, and Spottedkit, step forward," Bramblestar ordered. The four kits, with their pelts neatly groomed and shining in the moonlight, scampered up. The leader gestured to Hedgehogkit, and put his tail on the cream-and-brown tom's shoulder.

"From this moment forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Hedgehogpaw," Bramblestar announced. He scanned the crowd, until his gaze landed on Berrynose. "Berrynose," Bramblestar called. Berrynose, not looking at all surprised, with his head held high with pride, stepped forward.

"Berrynose, this will be your first apprentice. You are a wonderful father, and I'm sure you'll be a good mentor and pass on your strength to young Hedgehogpaw." Berrynose stepped forward, and touched noses with Hedgehogpaw.

The other three kits looked enviously at their brother, who got to go first, and Hollykit lifted puffed out her chest fur as Bramblestar called her name.

"From this moment forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Hollypaw. Cherryblossom, this will also be your first apprentice. Pass on the determination that makes you an excellent warrior," Bramblestar meowed. Cherryblossom, with her tail high in the air, tapped her nose against her new apprentice's.

Mudkit, who was calmly waiting with his tail wrapped neatly around his cream paws, stepped up when it was his turn.

"From this moment forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Mudpaw. Brightheart, it's about time you had an apprentice! Show Mudpaw the courage that you have that makes you a warrior, despite your injury," Bramblestar mewed. Brightheart, her single eye shining with happiness, walked toward Mudpaw. He had no hesitation as accepting her as his mentor. Ivypool wasn't surprised Bramblestar chose Mudpaw to be Brightheart's apprentice; he was the most calm and easy going of the four.

Spottedkit straitened and stopped impatiently fidgeting her paws as it became her turn.

"From this moment forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Spottedpaw. Ivypool, you have shown great loyalty from risking your life every night to spy in the Dark Forest. Pass on this loyalty to your apprentice," Bramblestar declared.

Spottedpaw's eyes were shining with excitement as she half padded, half scampered up to Ivypool. Ivypool needed to bend down just a little bit so Spottedpaw could touch noses with her, as the cub was already very big.

"I'll be the best apprentice ever," Spottedpaw whispered in Ivypool's ear. Ivypool gazed into her apprentice's large, round yellow eyes.

"And I'll be the best mentor I can be," Ivypool replied.

* * *

***Wipes tear from eye* Little Spottedpaw's growing up.**

**I hope everyone will have an awesome school-free summer!**

**I liked doing the guess that P.O.V. thing in the previous chapter. Can you guys guess this one?**

**I am Jake's son's sister's son's former apprentice's daughter-ish. It's not a new P.O.V., they had a point of view in this story before. Whoever guesses it right will get a virtual Spottedpaw with Ivypool plushie!**

**~Petalsplash**


	12. Chapter 10: The First Day

**REPLY TO REVIEWS**

**Sorrelheart: Ish :)**

**Skyfrost14: Super close guess!**

**Wolfheart Ze Fangirl: Thank you! And yup.**

**Pines of Dew: Thank you, Pines of Dew! And you're right!**

**Redfire: Hmm. . . I already have a warrior name for Spottedpaw (it took a while, but I got one!), but I do need good warrior names for Smoky, Holly, Muddy, and Hedgie (it's super hard to find good names for Hedgie (though I _do_ like Hedgehogheart) and Smoky especially)! So if you or anyone else has a good idea for those four, I'm open to suggestions! :)**

**Yup, it's Spottedpaw! *hands super fuzzy Spottedpaw and Ivypool plushies to Sorrelheart, Wolfheart Ze Fangirl, Pines of Dew, Pebblewish, Redfire, and Guest* And Skyfrost14, here's a Spottedpaw plushie for a super close guess! *throws plushie* *looks at nearly empty plushie shelf with only one Spottedpaw plushie left with a mustache* Wow, I need to stock up on my plushies again!**

**And in my "Who should Ivypool's mate be?" poll, Mousewhisker is in first place with four votes, Toadstep and Moleclaw are tied for second, each with one vote, and Foxleap's at none! Looks like Mousewhisker's the favorite. . . _so far._ . .**

**Also, we're currently at 91 reviews, and that's nine away from a hundred! Woo hoo! The hundredth reviewer gets virtual Cinderheart-with-her-kits plushie (including Spottedpaw), Jayfeather-with-his-stick, and virtual ice cream and chocolate-chip cookies! *licks lips* Yum!**

**And I waaant *looks through OCs* Spottedpaw to do the disclaimer!**

**Spottedpaw: Erm, what do I say?**

**Petalsplash: *passes Spottedpaw script***

**Spottedpaw: *stares at the paper* Petalspalsh does not own Warriors. Erin Hunter does. Petalsplash only owns her OCs, the plotline, and Spottedpaw. Wait a minute you-**

**Petalsplash: *mews quickly* Thank you so much for reading that! On with the story now!**

**Spottedpaw: Wait! You _own_ me?**

**Here's chapter 10 (probably the longest so far). Happy reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"Hedgehogpaw! Hollypaw! Mudpaw! Spottedpaw! Hedgehogpaw! Hollypaw! Mudpaw! Spottedpaw!" the Clan cheered. When the cats quieted down, Bramblestar flicked his tail to Squirrelflight, and she followed him to his den.

Spottedpaw turned her attention on her new mentor. _I'm an apprentice!_ she thought with a burst of excitement.

"What are we going to do first?" she wondered out loud. Ivypool paused, then replied, "Explore the territory."

"Can we come with you?" Cherryblossom asked, with Hollypaw at her heels.

"Sure."

Spottedpaw brushed her pelt against her sister's as she walked out of camp. "I can't believe we're apprentices!" Hollypaw whispered in her ear.

"And you got Ivypool as a mentor, you lucky cat!" she continued. Spottedpaw was about to whisper back a reply, but was interrupted by Cherryblossom.

"This is the ShadowClan border," she announced. Spottedpaw remembered stories about how ThunderClan had taken the clearing from ShadowClan. Hollypaw glanced around as if she expected an angry ShadowClan patrol burst out from the bushes on the other side.

"What's that rustling noise?" asked Hollypaw nervously. Spottedpaw pricked her ears. The bushes were moving on the other side of the border. Two yellow orbs flashed from their depths, as a patrol of three ShadowClan cats emerged from the branches.

"What are you doing so close to the border?" a brown tom hissed. Spottedpaw shivered when she saw the long scar that parted his back.

"We're showing some new apprentices around the territory, Ratscar. Why are _you_ so close to the border?" Ivypool replied cooly. Ratscar nodded to the bush behind him, and three apprentices stepped out, all toms. One was brown with black blotches, one was brown with darker brown patches, and the last one was brown with a gray-ringed tail.

"We're also showing apprentices around the territory. These are Ivytail's kits," Ratscar gestured to the apprentices.

"This is Lizardpaw, my apprentice." Ratscar introduced the brown one with the gray-ringed tail who was staring at the ThunderClan patrol by Ratscar's side.

"Fallowpaw." Ratscar flicked his tail to the brown tom with black blotches which was peeking at the cats from behind his mentor's ginger leg.

"And Hailpaw." The brown tom with darker brown patches was looking at the patrol from narrowed eyes behind his cream mentor.

"Dawnpelt, I didn't know you have an apprentice," Ivypool commented, looking at the cream she-cat. Spottedpaw thought she saw Dawnpelt's eyes flash with pride. The ginger tom then turned his amber eyes on Spottedpaw and Hollypaw.

"Who are your apprentices?" he asked. Cherryblossom spoke this time.

"These two are Cinderheart's kits. My apprentice is Hollypaw." Hollypaw stepped in front of her mentor to get a closer look at the ShadowClan cats.

"And this is Spottedpaw." Spottedpaw puffed out her chest as she was introduced.

"You're a new apprentice? How come you're so _big?_" Fallowpaw wondered, staring at Spottedpaw. Spottedpaw felt her pelt prickle with unease. _Should an enemy patrol know I'm a leopard?_ Ivypool stepped in front of her apprentice.

"She surprised us all by growing this big," she answered the apprentice.

"Let's not be too nosey, Fallowpaw," the ginger tom scolded.

"Sorry Starlingwing," he muttered.

"Can we explore the marsh now?" Lizardpaw impatiently asked.

"Sure. You've seen ThunderClan," Ratscar replied. The ShadowClan cats disappeared back in to the bush. Hollypaw glanced at her mentor.

"I want to see the Sky Oak!" she announced. Cherryblossom glanced at Ivypool, and when she nodded, Cherryblossom mewed, "Okay, but it's going to have to be quick. We need to go back to camp soon."

* * *

When they arrived at the Sky Oak, Spottedpaw gasped. It was _huge! _

"I dare you to climb _that_ and catch a squirrel in there once we get further in our apprentice training," Hollypaw whispered in her ear.

"As long as you do it with me," Spottedpaw whispered back. Hollypaw stretched her neck to get a better look at the tree.

"You're on!" she growled. Ivypool's ears swiveled backwards to the apprentices.

"I hope you're not daring each other to climb this," she meowed.

"Your mother fell from this tree and broke her leg when she was an apprentice, you know." Hollypaw exchanged a scared glance with Spottedpaw. "Maybe we should do that when were warriors," Hollypaw suggested. Spottedpaw quickly nodded.

Cherryblossom's ears suddenly pricked, and Spottedpaw turned to see the leaves behind her scuffling. Cherryblossom got in the hunter's crouch, and slowly stalked toward the creature.

Spottedpaw opened her jaws, and recognized the scent of mouse. Her paws itched to pounce on it herself, but she never caught prey before, and lacked experience. The ginger she-cat was a tail-length away from the mouse when she pinpointed its exact position and leaped. The mouse's squeal was cut off as Cherryblossom bit it behind the neck.

"Nice catch!" Hollypaw complimented her mentor. Cherryblossom held the limp body in her jaws, and her eyes shone with satisfaction. Ivypool nodded approvingly.

"We should go back to camp now. You must be tired," mewed Ivypool. Spottedpaw suddenly realized her legs _were_ tired. She never walked this far before. She glanced at her sister, who looked like she was going to fall on her paws.

* * *

Once they arrived back at camp, Cherryblossom set her mouse down on the fresh-kill pile, and Ivypool put down the jackdaw she had surprised. Spottedpaw dashed to the apprentice den, where Mudpaw and Amberpaw were talking.

"Guess what?" her brother asked excitedly once he noticed her. He didn't give Spottedpaw time to answer.

"When we were exploring the territory, Brightheart and I stumbled on a baby mouse nest. There were four, and I had one for myself. They were delicious!" Amberpaw leaned over to whisper in Spottedpaw's ear.

"He won't stop talking about that mouse nest. It looks like we got another boaster on our paws!" she whispered to Spottedpaw.

"I saved a mouse for you if you want it," Mudpaw told her as he drew his paw over his ear.

"Thanks. I'll take it."

Mudpaw ran over to the fresh-kill pile, and uncovered the mouse in a small hole he dug next to the pile. He dashed over back to Spottedpaw and set the mouse down and rolled it to her with his paw. Spottedpaw bent down to sniff the small pink creature. It didn't smell bad, so she took a hesitant nibble. The mouse tasted good in her mouth, and it didn't have any fur to tolerate, so she quickly gobbled down the rest.

"Oh, and Spottedpaw, I saved you a space next to me for your nest. Come on!" Amberpaw dashed in the den, looking behind her to make sure Spottedpaw was following. When they entered the cave, Spottedpaw gasped. It was so different from the nursery, which was made under a thick bramble bush reinforced with thick roots woven together for protection. She saw a nest in the corner with a couple feathers here and there in it, smelling of Snowpaw's scent, and near that a nest with a thick coat of feathers on top with Dewpaw's scent on it.

When Amberpaw saw her looking at the feathers, she explained, "Dewpaw loves to hunt birds. He even managed to catch a pheasant with Snowpaw and Graystripe once. But I think it's because he likes to fluff up his nest with the feathers."

Amberpaw then sat down in a nest in the center of the den, and curled her tail neatly around her paws. "This is my nest," she announced. Diagonal from hers was Smokepaw's nest, and next to his was Barkpaw's.

Amberpaw pointed with her tail to an empty space below her nest. "I saved this spot for you. You should go to Leafpool and ask her for some moss before any other cat tries to take your spot," she warned. Spottedpaw headed over to the medicine den, and saw that Leafpool and Jayfeather were sorting herbs from a big scattered pile on the floor. Leafpool was sorting some chervil that Spottedpaw recognized from when Barkpaw stepped on a thorn. Jayfeather was sorting sharp-scented leaves from the pile when he sensed Spottedpaw.

"Yes?" he asked sharply, as if not wanting to know the answer.

"Erm, what happened?" Spottedpaw burst out. Leafpool sighed.

"Snowpaw and Smokepaw were play-fighting outside, when Smokepaw rolled in here and crashed into the chervil and ragwort leaves, scattering them all over the floor. And as an added bonus, they look almost exactly alike."

"You'd think that apprentices would be more mature," Jayfeather muttered.

"Do you have any moss I could use?" Spottedpaw asked hopefully.

"Busy," Jayfeather replied without looking up from his task. Suddenly there was a thump at Spottedpaw's paws, and she turned to see Briarlight dragging herself over to fetch the ball. Spottedpaw rolled it to her, and mewed, "Where'd you get the moss for that?" Briarlight nodded her head toward a pile off moss next to the pool where the patients drank out of. Spottedpaw grabbed a mouthful of moss, and tucked some under her chin and headed back to where Amberpaw was waiting for her.

When she returned, Hedgehogpaw had also. He was talking to Mudpaw, and Spottedpaw could catch the words "Brightheart" and "mentor." Spottedpaw ignored the toms, and made her nest next to Smokepaw's and right below Amberpaw's and next to Hollypaw's. She found out that Hedgehogpaw had also made his nest between Snowpaw's and Mudpaw's. When she finished, she walked out of the den to see what her brothers were gossiping about.

"And then Berrynose jumped into the tree and brought the squirrel down by the tail! It was the best leap ever! Oh, Spottedpaw, do you need something?" Hedgehogpaw meowed.

"Just seeing to what you did on your territory tour," Spottedpaw answered.

"Hedgehogpaw, Brightheart, Berrynose, and I explored the WindClan border," Mudpaw explained.

"How 'bout you?"

"Well we went along the ShadowClan border. We also met some new ShadowClan apprentices, Ivytail's kits," Spottedpaw added. Mudpaw looked thoughtful.

"I wonder if we'll meet them when we go to a Gathering," he mewed.

Hedgehogpaw wistfully thumped his head on his paws. "We should be able to go to a Gathering soon," he grumbled. Mudpaw shook his head.

"There's no _way_ we'll go_ this_ moon. Smokepaw and Barkpaw are a moon older than us, and they haven't been to any Gathering. We'll have to get lucky to be invited." Spottedpaw quickly glanced at the sky.

"Is there a gathering tonight?" she wondered aloud.

"Yes, and I'm going. It's going to be my first gathering!" a voice mewed behind her. Spottedpaw recognized Barkpaw's meow, and Smokepaw sitting behind him with his head down.

"Are you both going?" Mudpaw asked, noticing Smokepaw's glumness. Barkpaw looked down at his paws once he realized his comment may have hurt his brother's feelings.

"No, just me. Bumblestripe and Poppyfrost gave us a hunting assessment, and I caught two sparrows, a water vole, and a mouse. Smokepaw managed to catch a _huge_ rabbit and a thrush, but Bramblestar said he couldn't take all the apprentices to the Gathering, so Smokepaw had to stay," Barkpaw explained.

"Who else is going?" Hedgehogpaw asked.

"Snowpaw and Amberpaw," replied Barkpaw.

"Tell us about the gathering, okay?" Hollypaw, who had quietly listened to the conversation, begged.

"Sure," Barkpaw flicked his tail.

Spottedpaw glanced across the camp, and saw Bramblestar leap on the Highledge.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, join beneath the Highledge for a Clan Meeting!" he called.

Once the Clan had gathered, Bramblestar announced, "The cats that will be going to the gathering are Graystripe, Brackenfur, Brightheart, Berrynose, Hazeltail, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Icecloud, Rosepetal, Ivypool, Bumblestripe, Lilypool, Snowpaw, Amberpaw, Shrewpaw, and Sandstorm." Bramblestar hopped off his perch and headed out of camp with the cats he listed following.

Spottedpaw sighed as her mother eagerly bounded out of camp, her first Gathering since her kits became apprentices. Spottedpaw trudged to her den, her tail dragging in the dust. Before she could lie down in her new nest, she heard a pebble roll across the hard cave floor. She looked up, and saw Smokepaw standing at the entrance.

"Look, if you're upset about not going to the Gathering, don't worry. An apprentice _rarely_ goes their first moon. If you want, we can go hunting, catch a couple birds, and use their feathers to line your nest," Smokepaw suggested to Spottedpaw. Spottedpaw pricked her ears.

"I've never caught anything before in my _life._ And isn't it my _mentor's_ job to teach me how to hunt?" Spottedpaw inquired. Smokepaw shrugged.

"The sooner you learn, the better. Plus we'll get good light with the full moon," he pointed out. Spottedpaw could see no harm with trying to hunting with Smokepaw.

_Maybe I'll even bring back something for Ivypool!_

* * *

"No! You're supposed to jump on top of the bird, not at it!" Smokepaw hissed angrily.

"Yeah, and I bet you caught prey on your first day as an apprentice too," Spottedpaw growled to herself as the blackbird flew to the upper branches of the tree. It looked down at them, and Spottedpaw was sure she saw a mocking glint in its eye.

"This is the second bird that you let fly away from you! You have to focus!" urged Smokepaw.

"Well if you're so _good,_ how about_ you_ show me how it's done?" she spat. Smokepaw twitched his whiskers.

"Watch."

Smokepaw opened his jaws to taste the air. Spottedpaw copied him, and smelled the faint scent of thrush. Smokepaw must have scented it to because he slowly started to creep around a raspberry bush. He glanced up at the moving branches, and Spottedpaw felt a twinge of triumph.

_There's no way he'll catch it though all those branches!_ But Smokepaw narrowed his eyes, and jumped on to a nearby gnarly oak tree. He carefully inched his way up to make sure his claws didn't scratch the wood and alert the bird. Once he was above it, he turned his head to pinpoint its position.

He then leaped on the bush paws first, and the bird let out an alarm call that was cut short. But the gray tom misjudged the amount of weight that the thin branch would hold, and he crashed down through the bush. He hit the ground with a thump, his pelt stained red.

Spottedpaw ran up to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Smokepaw moaned, and rolled over to reveal the thrush flattened underneath his belly. Spottedpaw laughed, but immediately stopped once she noticed how red his pelt was. She sniffed it, and licked him behind the ear, the redness not tasting like blood, more like berries. She nudged him with her paw.

"Okay, faker, you can get up now. I know that's berry juice and not blood." Smokepaw stiffly rose to his paws, and turned over his front paw, looking at all the tiny thorns in it.

"It's going to take a long time to pull all of those thorns out," Spottedpaw observed.

"You don't say," Smokepaw mewed sarcastically. Spottedpaw bent her head down and plucked a thorn from his pad.

"Ow."

Spottedpaw looked at him and cocked her head to one side. "It's a good thing Briarlight's here, or no one would be able to treat you."

Smokepaw didn't reply, but twitched his ear in the direction of the berry bush. Spottedpaw turned her head, and saw the blackbird she had been stalking in a low branch in the berry bush, and she was sure she could catch it without having to ordeal what Smokepaw just went through.

She crept up on the bird, making sure her paws didn't snap any twigs. When she was close enough, she darted forward and batted the bird with her paw. The bird, unable to fly away, due to all the branches, made an easy catch as Spottedpaw bit its neck.

Spottedpaw felt pride from her nose to her tail-tip.

_I caught my first prey!_

"Looks like you _finally_ caught on," Smokepaw commented. Spottedpaw snorted.

"Let's get you back to camp, before your muscles go stiff and I'm forced to carry you."

* * *

When they made it back to camp, Spottedpaw sighed with relief. It had been a long, hard walk through the territory, with Smokepaw staggering behind her. Daisy padded out of the nursery, took one look at her bedraggled kit, and instantly ran over.

"Smokepaw! Look at your pelt! It's filthy! What happened?" she asked in between licks. Smokepaw ducked in attempt to get away from his mother's fierce grooming.

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"He had a _little_ quarrel with a thrush and a raspberry bush," Spottedpaw giggled. Smokepaw rolled his eyes as Daisy pulled him closer.

Daisy licked his paw and meowed, "That should do. Now you go see Briarlight about those thorns." The long-furred she-cat licked him over the ear one last time before he could escape her grasp. Smokepaw quickly dashed away before his mother could change her mind.

Spottedpaw laughed with amusement, then headed to the fresh-kill pile to deposit her blackbird. She turned and went in the apprentice den, where Dewpaw was rearranging the feathers in his nest. Hollypaw was sleeping soundly with her tail over her nose, and Mudpaw was grooming his fur.

"Where's Hedgehogpaw?" Spottedpaw asked, noticing his empty nest. Mudpaw paused in between licks to meow, "elder's den."

Spottedpaw turned to Dewpaw to ask, "Have the cats from the Gathering comeback yet?" Dewpaw shook his head.

Just then, Hedgehogpaw came back from the elder's den, and settled down in his nest.

"Hi Hedgehogpaw," Spottedpaw greeted him. Hedgehogpaw didn't reply, but sat in his nest and stared at her, a thoughtful and suspicious look in his eyes.

"What?" Spottedpaw asked, confused.

"Dustpelt was telling me a story about the ancient Clans," he began.

"He told me about LeopardClan, which were large golden spotted cats. You look a lot like a leopard. You resemble one _exactly_. I mean, you're really big for our age, you are golden with spots, and on top of all that, you're adopted." Spottedpaw gulped.

"Is it just a coincidence, or is there something you're not telling me?" he persisted with narrowed eyes.

"So what if I'm a leopard?" Hedgehogpaw didn't look surprised, but neither did he look satisfied.

"So if you're a leopard, why are you _here_?" Spottedpaw froze.

_Why _am_ I here?_

* * *

**Oh Smoky, you are just so clumsy sometimes.**

**Now time for another Guess-the-P.O.V. for. . . *looks through plushie shelf with the one Spottedpaw plushie with a mustache* Erm, first right guesser gets the mustache Spottedpaw, and the rest will get a plushie of the surprise P.O.V.!**

**I am Halftail's former apprentice's son's daughter's daughter's mate.**

**Now there could be more than one result, though it's the only cat who's had a P.O.V. in this story so far.**

**And hear this! I was browsing the Warriors Wiki, and my suspicion was proved correct! Whitetail and Onestar _ARE _mates (YAY!), and their daughter is Heathertail. Who knew Heathertail was their daughter? So Lionblaze fell in love with his grandfather's former best friend's daughter. . . And she was also his father's apprentice. . . _okaaaaaay_. . . **

**Also, did I mention the hundredth reviewer also gets a berryfied-Smokepaw plushie? :3**


	13. Chapter 11: Snow!

**REPLY TO REVIEWS**

**Redfire: Sorry, but I can't accept Hedgekit, and I don't plan on making Heathertail have kits in this story so far. But Smokestep does sound pretty awesome :)**

**Skyfrost14: That was my reaction too!**

**Stormbreeze100: Thank you! And yes, Daisy now has *counts on fingers* seven kits! That's as much as Ferncloud! I wonder if she can remember all their names. . .**

**nightkit11224: Yup! And super close guess.**

**IvyleafHollypool: Yup, it's Blazey!**

**rOSE: Thanks!**

**Anova: Not really vacation. . . hehehe. . . and I'll update now! X3**

**Winxclubfan1: Sure! After all, I'm restocked on my prizes :3**

**Pines of Dew: Thank you! Though there will be a cliffie in this chappie. *looks at paws* Sorry. But next chapter is cliffhanger-free!**

**Tigerbird-Loves-Bacon: Thanks a bunch! The warrior names you thought of for Snowpaw, Amberpaw, Hollypaw, and Mudpaw are _waaay_ better than what I thought of! I like Snowpaw's especially. But Barkpaw, Fallowpaw, Hailpaw, and Lizardpaw already have warrior names, since they were submitted in reviews :/**

**The Hundredth Reviewer Prize goes to. . *epic drumroll* . PEBBLEWISH! *throws Cinderheart-with-her-kits-plushie, Jayfeather-with-his-stick plushie, vanilla ice cream with a chocolate chip cookie on it, and a berryfied Smokepaw plushie.* Also, since rOSE would've been the hundredth reviewer if I hadn't forgot to moderate reviews quicker (oops), she get the prizes too! *tosses prizes* **

**And now that I'm all restocked on plushies, Redfire was the first reviewer of last chapter, so here's a Spottedpaw plushie with a mustache, and since I had an extra, a berryfied Smokepaw plushie! *looks at list* Here's Lionblaze plushies to Pebblewish and IvyleafHollypool, a Spottedpaw plushie to nightkit11224 for a close guess, and virtual brownies, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies, and the plushies to everyone else for being awesome!**

**Woo hoo! And I got TWELVE reviews in the first FOUR hours! Yipee! And now we're at 106! *claps paws* Yay! All of you are awesome! I had no idea this story would get so many reviews by chapter 10! *virtual cookies and ice cream rain down from the sky for you because you're all so awesome***

**Also, I am super desperate for names for Dewpaw, Hedgehogpaw, and Mud**paw. I found okayish names for Holly, Hedgie, and Smoky, but I need ideas for Muddy and Dew (a lot of things sound good with Mud- and Dew-, so I should have a lot to choose from!). I'll even offer a surprise plushie and treat reward for anyone's name ideas I use. I even created a forum topic for it. Please help! D:****

**And the current status for the _Who should Ivypool's Mate Be?_ poll is:****  
**

**Mousewhisker: 1st place with 5 votes  
**Toadstep: 2nd place with 3 votes**  
**Moleclaw: 3rd place with 2 votes******  
**Foxleap: 4th place with 0 votes**********  
******

****************Apparently Mousewhisker's still in the lead, with Toadstep close behind (it's not a blind poll anymore). By the way, this will be the last chapter you'll be able to vote on the poll. I'm putting up a new poll debating Breezepelt and Nightcloud's fate once chapter 12 is published, so send in those votes (remember, guests can submit their opinions in reviews)!****************

**Petalsplash: Spottedpaw, would you mind doing the disclaimer?**

**Spottedpaw: _Again?_**

**Petalsplash: Umm. . . Smokepaw?**

**Smokepaw: *sighs* *says in flat voice* As much as she wants to, Petalsplash does not own warriors. **

**Petalsplash: On with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Lionblaze woke in alarm, when he heard a panicked yowl from the other side of the camp.

_That sounded like Mudpaw!_

He leaped to his paws, and dashed out of the den, ready to fight any enemy that tried to harm his son, for he was only two moons in his training. Brackenfur, Seedstem, and Brightheart followed him out, but there was no sign of anything gone wrong in the camp. Lionblaze spotted the brown tabby outside of the apprentice den, looking at the ground in horror.

"ShadowClan did this!" Hedgehogpaw growled from behind his brother. Sandstorm walked out of the elder's den to see what the commotion was about, and purred in amusement.

"That's not ShadowClan," she called.

"That's SnowClan!"

Mudpaw cocked his head, confused.

"SnowClan?"

"SnowClan attacks every Clan in leaf-bare, putting this cold white powder all over the territories," Sandstorm explained, swiping her paw through the fallen snowflakes.

Brightheart walked over to her confused apprentice, and mewed, "When rain gets cold, it freezes, and turns to snow. It's really tiny, but there's so many of it that it can cover the ground." Mudpaw hesitantly poked his paw into it, and jumped back in shock.

"It's cold!"

Snowpaw, protected by his thick white pelt, jumped into the soft white stuff, paws first.

"It's fun!" he declared.

Spottedpaw, who also had a thick pelt, quickly joined him. In no time at all, every apprentice was running and squealing in the snow.

"Finally! Leaf-bare!" came a meow from behind Lionblaze. He turned to see Cloudtail and his daughter Whitewing, not being bothered at all from the cold gust of wind due to their pelts, standing in the entrance to the warrior's den.

"You _like_ Leaf-bare?" Lionblaze meowed, surprised. Whitewing twitched her whiskers. "It's the only time we white-pelts can hunt successfully," she mewed. Icecloud let out a yawn from behind them, and padded out of the den.

"Oh great! Snow! Well, it looks like we're in charge of hunting for the Clan now," she nudged her former mentor. Whitewing purred.

Squirrelflight, overhearing the cats' conversation, padded up to Icecloud.

"Alright, Icecloud. If it's really only up to the white cats to hunt, how about you lead a patrol with Cloudtail and Whitewing. Take Snowpaw to. We'll see how much prey you can bring back."

Lionblaze purred in amusement as the four white cats padded out of camp, their matching pelts making it hard to tell where one cat began and the other ends.

Once the white cats left, Squirrelflight leaned over and whispered into Lionblaze's ear, "Take a hunting patrol out with Thornclaw, Amberpaw, and Dovewing. We'll see if the white cats are better cut out for leaf-bare hunting."

Lionblaze thought it was a little unfair to include Dovewing, with her power, but he didn't complain. He poked his head in the warriors den, and nudged Dovewing with a paw. "Hunting patrol," he whispered.

"Get Amberpaw." Dovewing twitched her ear to show she heard, and Lionblaze went to wake up Thornclaw.

Once his patrol was gathered around at the camp entrance, Lionblaze meowed, "Okay, so we're having a competition. The white cats are trying to prove they are better at leaf-bare hunting, so Squirrelflight sent us out to prove them wrong. Dovewing, are your senses sharp?" The gray she-cat nodded.

"Good."

* * *

By the time the sun was above the horizon, Lionblaze caught a sparrow, Thornclaw caught a magpie and a mouse, and Amberpaw had just brought a huge squirrel.

"That's squirrel is almost as big as you," Lionblaze complimented.

"I'll tell Bramblestar to bring you to the Gathering tomorrow night," Dovewing meowed to her apprentice.

"Could you also tell Bramblestar to give me my warrior's assessment?" she mewed hopefully. Dovewing cuffed her apprentice over her ear.

"You're going to have to wait a moon or two for that," she meowed. Amberpaw sighed, and picked up her squirrel.

"Let's see if we can get two more pieces of prey. Hopefully that is enough to show the white-pelts," Lionblaze decided.

The patrol went to the Sky Oak, where Amberpaw managed to surprise a rabbit straight to Thornclaw's claws. Lionblaze, noticing Dovewing hadn't caught anything yet, fell back in step beside her on the way back to camp.

"Are you okay?" he asked his former apprentice. Dovewing nodded, forcefully.

"I'm fine." Lionblaze didn't believe her, but when Dovewing didn't want to talk, you couldn't get anything out of her. Thornclaw, who was at the head of the patrol, suddenly halted. He signaled with his tail for the cats to crouch down, and Lionblaze saw what his eyes were fixed on. A plump blackbird trying to pull a worm from the ground, oblivious to the hunting cats.

He crept around the bird, and Dovewing got into a position behind a bush to block its escape. Thornclaw leaped at the bird, and it flew right where Dovewing was hiding. But instead of Dovewing jumping up to snatch it out of the air, it flew away, undisturbed.

"Dovewing!" Thornclaw hissed.

"You should have caught that!" When there was no reply, Thornclaw repeated, "Dovewing?"

Lionblaze heard a low moan from the bush Dovewing was hiding in. He dashed over to see what was going on, and saw the pale gray she-cat squirming on the ground, her face screwed up with pain.

"Get. . . Jayfeather," she managed to gasp out. Amberpaw instantly dashed in the direction of camp. Thornclaw and Lionblaze nudged Dovewing to her paws, and she slowly walked between the two toms supporting her, until they reached the camp entrance. Jayfeather and Leafpool were waiting for her with herbs at their paws, and they gently set Dovewing down.

"Is her breathing okay?" asked Leafpool.

"Its fine," Jayfeather confirmed.

"Where does it hurt?" Leafpool asked Dovewing in a soothing voice. Dovewing moaned again, and flicked her tail to her stomach. Jayfeather put a paw on her belly and mewed, "She's having a bad stomach ache. Did you eat anything weird?"

Dovewing shook her head. "Jayfeather, go fetch the poppy seeds," Leafpool ordered.

"Wait!" Dovewing gasped. "The pain's going away. I think I'll be fine!" she insisted, shakily getting to her paws.

Leafpool and Jayfeather exchanged a long glance. "No cat has that severe of a stomach ache for no reason, and then it just stops," Leafpool meowed slowly. Dovewing shrugged.

"Well, I'm better now." Jayfeather didn't say anything, but went over to Dovewing and pressed his ear against her stomach. He sniffed her, then leaned back, and murmured a couple things in his former mentor's ear.

"Dovewing, I think you're pregnant," Leafpool stated. Dovewing just stared at the medicine cat, her jaw beginning to drop. "But. . ." she began.

"Like it or not, it's true," Jayfeather snapped. "Does that mean I'll have to quit my warrior duties?" Dovewing asked. Jayfeather nodded his head.

"You're all ready about a moon-and-a-half pregnant."

Dovewing sighed, but immediately brightened up as the news went through her head. She dashed over to Bumblestripe, who was by the fresh-kill pile, sharing a magpie with Briarlight.

"Guess what Bumblestripe?" Dovewing didn't give time for her mate to answer.

"I'm pregnant!" Bumblestripe purred with delight, and Briarlight meowed, with a glint in her eye; "Now I can teach more kits moss toss!"

Lionblaze thought he heard his brother groan at that comment, but continued listening to the young warriors.

"When are the kits going to come?" Bumblestripe wondered.

"Well Jayfeather said I'd have to move into the nursery, so I'd say in about a half-moon." Bumblestripe ran his tail along Dovewing's flank, then straightened up.

"Well if Jayfeather said you have to move into the nursery, that's where you're going."

He nudged the gray she-cat to her paws, and she unwillingly followed him to the nursery. Daisy was sitting outside grooming her fur, and looked up as the couple got closer.

"Dovewing? What are you doing here? Are you expecting kits?" Daisy asked, a hopeful gleam in her ice-blue eyes. Dovewing nodded, and the cream she-cat purred.

"Well you'll _love_ it in the nursery! It's been awfully lonely since Cinderheart and her kits moved out. And there'll be a nice comfy nest waiting for you." Bumblestripe stood behind as the cream she-cat fussed over the new queen.

Ivypool, seeing her sister's fluffy gray tail disappear in the brambles, quickly bounded after Dovewing with a confused look on her face.

"Are you on moss changing duty again? There are plenty of apprentices, and no kits."

Dovewing shook her head. "You're wrong, Ivypool. There _are_ kits. _My_ kits," Dovewing mewed proudly. Ivypool's ears pricked forward in shock.

"You're expecting! Congratulations! Let me guess: Bumblestripe's the father. When will they come?" Ivypool chatted.

"In half a moon," her sister answered. Ivypool ran to the warriors den where Hazeltail, Mousewhisker, Blossomfall, Cherryblossom, and Toadstep were watching the snowfall, and told them the news. The cats flicked their tail excitedly, and continued talking among themselves.

Lionblaze turned his attention rustling at the camp entrance, as the white-pelts came back, carrying a thrush, a vole, a jackdaw, a large rabbit, and a pigeon. Squirrelflight noticed them, and came out of Bramblestar's den under the Highledge.

She turned to Lionblaze and asked, "How much prey did your patrol catch?"

"Five pieces," he answered. She glanced at Icecloud, and mewed, "And your patrol?" Icecloud tilted her head to the side.

"Why does it matter?"

"Because I want to find out if white-pelted cats are _really_ better suited to Leaf-bare hunting," she replied.

"Well, Cloudtail caught the pigeon, Whitewing caught the jackdaw and the vole, Snowpaw caught the rabbit and the thrush, and I caught a rabbit I buried in the forest," Icecloud meowed.

"So you were saying, Squirrelflight?" Cloudtail mewed, a smug look on his face. Squirrelflight looked down at her paws, and mewed, "Note to self: don't send pregnant cats on competitive hunting patrols."

"Who's pregnant?" Snowpaw mewed, glancing around.

"Dovewing is," Lionblaze replied for her.

"My daughter's pregnant? That's great! I have to tell Birchfall!" Whitewing said as she raced off. Cloudtail sighed, and padded over to Brightheart, who was standing nearby.

"Looks like we're older than we thought," she mewed to him. "Great-grandparents already. I didn't think I was_ that_ old."

Dewpaw, overhearing the cats' conversation from where he was biting into a wren, quickly ran over to his parents and insisted, "No! You're still young!" Cloudtail purred, and cuffed his son around the ear. Brightheart gave Dewpaw a lick between his ears, as Dewpaw asked, "So, what would I be to Dovewing's kits?"

"Their great uncle," Brightheart answered. Dewpaw sat down with a thump.

"Now I feel old."

Lionblaze went to the fresh-kill pile and picked out the rabbit for him and Cinderheart to share, and went to the warrior's den where his mate was waiting for him.

"Did you hear the news? Dovewing's pregnant!" she asked immediately as he sat down.

"The whole _Clan_ probably knows by now. Looks like she and Bumblestripe will have their paws full. How many do you think she'll have?" he wondered.

"Well, she's about a half moon away from kitting, and she managed to still be in her warrior duties without anyone noticing, so I'd say not too many, perhaps one or two," Cinderheart replied confidently.

"Bumblestripe's in for a surprise. Kits aren't as easy as they seem," Lionblaze meowed, eyeing Bumblestripe boasting to Graystripe, Millie, and Berrynose.

Cinderheart purred. "No doubt about that!" Lionblaze sighed as he remembered when he first saw Mudpaw, Hedgehogpaw, and Hollypaw, suckling at Cinderheart's belly.

"Oh, and did you see the crow Hedgehogpaw brought back from the hunting patrol yesterday? He's becoming quite the hunter," Cinderheart told him.

"And Brightheart told me that Mudpaw managed to pin her in battle practice. He must catch on fast. It's hard to figure out where she'll strike, with her special moves." Cinderheart purred when she heard about her sons' progress.

"I think we both know where he inherited the skill," she meowed, lovingly looking at Lionblaze with dark blue eyes. Lionblaze licked his mate over the ear.

"And have you seen Spottedpaw at climbing practice? She nearly reached the top of the Sky Oak! And she has only been apprenticed for two moons." Lionblaze pointed out when he raised his head from the rabbit.

"What about Hollypaw? Is she making any progress?" Cinderheart wondered. "She's following in Hollyleaf's paw prints; she's just as good as fighting as she is hunting." Cinderheart became silent, looking off into the distance as she remembered her deceased friend.

Hollypaw even had the same slender body shape and green eyes as Hollyleaf, and though Hollyleaf wasn't a tabby, both had the same fluffy dark pelt.

"Hey!" Lionblaze's head whipped around, to find Hedgehogpaw flattened under Snowpaw.

"That was a kit move! Warriors don't belly flop!" he protested. Snowpaw drew his paw over his ear as he started to groom himself on top of his victim.

"A warrior does whatever move he can to win the battle," Snowpaw replied.

"Dustpelt told you that, didn't he?" Snowpaw hesitated, and slowly mewed, "Maybe…"

But in Snowpaw's hesitation, Hedgehogpaw surged upward and took Snowpaw by surprise as he head-butted and pinned his attacker.

"That'll teach you to use kit moves on me," he growled playfully. Snowpaw rolled over and shook the snow off his coat.

"Hey, I know! When you're a warrior, you should be called Snowpelt!" his brother, Dewpaw joked. Snowpaw batted his sibling's side, and it didn't take long for the two to get in a tussle, and not long after Hedgehogpaw joined in.

Spottedpaw, Amberpaw, and Hollypaw were all watching just inside the den, and Lionblaze heard Amberpaw mew, "I think Snowpaw will win."

"Are you sure? I think Hedgehogpaw stands a pretty good chance," Hollypaw remarked.

"I say Snowpaw," Spottedpaw decided. Amberpaw turned to her denmates, and mewed, "Want to bet?" Hollypaw nodded, and Spottedpaw flicked her tail excitedly.

"Winner gets a piece of prey each caught by the losers." The she-cats all nodded in agreement, and intently watched the fighting toms, occasionally gasping when their bet was pinned down.

"I'm betting Hedgehogpaw too," Cinderheart mewed, watching the apprentices.

"I'm not betting. I always lose," Lionblaze meowed. Cinderheart purred.

"Silly furball."

* * *

"Hey Lionblaze! You're on sunset patrol!" Lionblaze felt a sharp prod in the side as a paw poked him. He reluctantly got up and saw Poppyfrost standing over him, with Barkpaw peeking inside. Bramblestar was waiting with Brightheart and Mudpaw by the entrance. Brightheart was talking with Bramblestar, and Lionblaze picked up a bit of their conversation.

"…about Amberpaw? She'll get a new mentor now that Dovewing's in the nursery, right?" Brightheart asked. Bramblestar nodded.

"…told Hazeltail to take over her training…"

Once Lionblaze arrived, Bramblestar led his patrol to the ShadowClan border. Mudpaw and Shrewpaw were whispering excitedly; Lionblaze remembered how he felt when he went on his first patrol with Firestar.

"Can you smell anything?" Poppyfrost asked her apprentice. Barkpaw opened his jaws to taste the air.

"No sign that ShadowClan crossed the border," he reported. Bramblestar sniffed, remarked the border, and Lionblaze set his marker.

On the way back, Bramblestar heard birdsong in the trees. Turning to the apprentices, he mewed, "Let's see your skills."

Mudpaw managed to bring down a swallow, and Shrewpaw caught a magpie. Bramblestar nodded to them in approval. Mudpaw fell into step beside Lionblaze and mewed, "Do you think Bramblestar will take me to the Gathering tomorrow night?" Lionblaze purred.

"We'll see."

* * *

When they entered the camp, the patrol was greeted by furious yowls. Lionblaze pushed past his staring patrol to see everyone looking near the apprentice den, where he caught a glimpse of spotted fur. He stood up on his hind legs to see Spottedpaw, her fluffy tail bushed out three times its size. Hedgehogpaw faced her, his neck fur bristled up, and his teeth bared.

"I _dare_ you to say that again!" Spottedpaw hissed in his face. Hedgehogpaw flinched under the bigger apprentice's glare, but didn't back down.

"Outsider!" he yowled.

A low growl rumbled in Spottedpaw's throat, and her pupils became smaller, as she leaped at him, her claws outstretched. Hedgehogpaw dodged most of her blow, but her claw caught the tip of his ear. Lionblaze noticed a small nick where blood was gathering on the cream-and-brown apprentice's ear. Hedgehogpaw snarled, and whipped around and clawed her side, his claws managing to slice through her thick fur.

Spottedpaw turned to leap and pin her adopted brother, but just as she was about to bring her weight down on him, Ivypool jumped, head-butting her flank, and Spottedpaw was knocked to the side by her mentor. As Ivypool pinned her apprentice, she fiercely whispered something in her ear, and Spottedpaw's claws slowly sheathed, and her pupils widened.

Hedgehogpaw sat down, one eye still on Spottedpaw, and started to lick his paw and run it over his nicked ear. Ivypool stood, shaking her pelt, and mewed, "Spottedpaw, follow me."

Spottedpaw silently followed her mentor out of camp, her gaze on her paws so she didn't have to see her clanmates staring with shock.

Once they left the camp, Lionblaze was the first one to move, and dashed over to Cinderheart. "What was that about?" His mate sighed.

"It started when Ivypool and Berrynose took them out to practice climbing. It was meant to just be a little sibling competition, but Hedgehogpaw saw a huge squirrel, and was just about to catch it when Spottedpaw intercepted it. Hedgehogpaw was furious that he stole her catch, and then it just escalated from there."

Lionblaze remembered back to the time when he caught the thrush that Breezepelt was about to get on the WindClan border. It wasn't about the prey and who caught it then; Lionblaze didn't think that was what it was about this time either.

* * *

**Uh oh.**

_**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT OF IMPORTANTNESS:**_

**I'm gone on vacation right now, and will be back hopefully on August 8th (National parks woot woot), so unless I have WiFi (which I just found right now, yay!), don't expect me to update my story or post anything on a Forum for about two weeks (D:). But the reviews are still appreciated, and I want to take a picture of my shocked face once I see how many reviews I got when I get back. Who knows what Smokepaw will do, since I put him in charge while I'm gone. Bad decision? Hopefully not. . .**

**Also, Skyfrost14, Pebblewish, and Winxclubfan1 can keep an eye out for their OCs in chapter 11. A lot more OCs will appear in chapter 12 (Gathering yay!).**

**In the meantime, next chapter's P.O.V.'s kinda obvious, *cough cough IVYPOOL cough cough* so I'll be doing a different question this time! It's an opinion question, so everybody wins (unless the answer is Rainflower or Clear Sky)!**

**Which warrior cat would you _want_ to be? (_Not_ which one you're most like.)**

**Anyone who answers gets the white-pelt patrol plushies!**

**~Petalsplash**


	14. Chapter 12: The Second Gathering

**Time for your monthly update of The LeopardClan Warrior (okay, it's been over a month)!**

**REPLY TO REVIEWS**

**Pebblewish: Yeah, Lionblaze would be able to do a lot of cool things.**

**Sorrelheart: I agree. Both are very interesting cats, and Turtle Tail's kittens are so cute!**

**Applemist: It would be cool to have Dovewing's power. And Dovewing doesn't have a she-cat that looks exactly like Bumble, but she has a gray tabby like him.**

**RagingContent: I'm a big Hollyleaf fan, too. Graypaw is actually mentioned in this chapter, and he does appear in the next.**

**hollyleaf is cool: Yes, Dovewing does have a cuddly fluffy pelt.**

**Candyheart13: Ivypool's a popular one! Hollypaw and Amberpaw were both ones I thought of myself, and you're right, Dewspots and Dewstripe dew (haha see what I did there?) sound pretty cool.**

**Rose: You're welcome! Squirrelflight and her mother would both be awesome to be.**

**The last warrior: Those are good ideas, but Dovewing's kits are already planned out. The final poll results will be revealed!**

**Nutpelt: Um, Cinderheart already had her kits.**

**Mckitty64: Thanks for the names! I especially like Mudpaw, Amberpaw, and Snowpaw! But Barkpaw, Fallowpaw, Lizardpaw, and Hailpaw already have names.**

**wixclubfan1: Ivypool _is_ very awesome. I sorted out Hedgekit :)**

**The Imaginative Warrior: It _would_ be cool to have those powers.**

**Dragonemperess: I did research on the wiki too (I chose the Arabian leopard, because if she were a Persian Leopard, which can get up to 200 pounds, it would be just a _little_ unfair battle advantage. Just a little :D)! I always imagined her as a runt, so she'd probably tip the scale at 40 pounds. Yup, Hedgehogclaw would suit him, and it was another name I thought of myself.**

**Starcloud: Thanks! And posting is on the way! Also, I happen to be a big fan of Oreos, too. *Oreos rain out of the sky* Ooh, yummy. *I throw some Oreos to my awesome reviewers***

**Pines of Dew: Thanks! No, the cat doesn't have to be living, and I will be accepting names for the apprentices until they become Warriors, or I find a name I _really_ like.**

**And plushies go to: Pebblewish, Sorrelheart, Applemist, RagingContent, hollyleaf is cool, Candyheart13, Rose, Mckitty64, winxclubfan1, Pines of Dew, and *gasps for a breath* The Imaginative Warrior! *hands out Cloudtail, Whitewing, Icecloud, and Snowpaw plushies* Apparently Ivypool's a popular choice! Personally, I'd like to be Sandstorm or Ivypool too. Oh, and Dragonempress gets a Spottedpaw plushie with sunglasses for researching!**

**I also have a new poll up debating Nightcloud and Breezepelt's fate. It'll only be up this chapter, so send in those votes! Speaking of polls, Ivypool's mate has been determined! In last place, Foxleap with two votes. Tied for second, were Toadstep and Moleclaw with three votes! Which means. . *epic drumroll*. Mousewhisker is the winner with five votes! So we'll be seeing some MouseXIvy soon!**

**Petalsplash: Hmm. . . which OC hasn't done the disclaimer yet?**

***Smokepaw, Spottedpaw, and Hedgehogpaw step back***

**Petalspalsh: Hedgehogpaw, you didn't- oh well. Mudpaw!**

**Mudpaw: Ummm, uh, *says very quickly* Petalsplash-doesn't-own-Warriors. Bye! *runs away***

**Petalsplash: *shrugs* Happy reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

"_Spottedpaw!_ Are you listening to me?! You can't attack clanmates like that!" Ivypool hissed. Spottedpaw looked back up at her mentor, guilt in her eyes, but also defiance.

"He started it! He called me a rogue and an outsider, and then told me I didn't belong in the Clan! And it was all because _he_ was too slow to catch the stupid squirrel!" Ivypool sighed. Aggression was not the way to deal with this apprentice.

"It's not just because of the squirrel, is it?" Ivypool mewed in a soft voice. Spottedpaw didn't answer, so Ivypool pressed on. "It was because you feel like you're being judged for what you seem, not what you are." Spottedpaw glanced at her paws. "Well, it's not like _you_ would understand."

_You have no idea._

"Why do you think I was lured into the Dark Forest? Do you think it was because I _wanted_ to train with a bunch of cats that got kicked out of StarClan?" Ivypool growled.

"It was because they found my weakness: jealousy. I was jealous of my sister. Of how the senior warriors looked at her with respect, and how the other apprentices wanted her to be her partner in _every single activity!_ That's why the Dark Forest cats we're able to get me; I wanted as much attention as my sister, and they gave me it. _I_ was in the spotlight for once. You need to overcome or hide your weaknesses, or _you_ will be a target."

There was a long silence. Staring at her paws, Spottedpaw mumbled, "I guess my weakness is I'm not sure if I truly belong."

"I'm not a fool," she continued. "I know most of the Clan figured out I'm a leopard. It's pretty obvious." Ivypool felt a flash of pity for the apprentice. "Maybe I'll be able to convince Bramblestar to let you go to the Gathering tonight. _Obviously,_ you have social problems."

Her apprentice sighed, and glanced up at Ivypool with large golden-green eyes. "Thanks, Ivypool."

* * *

"You think Spottedpaw should come to the Gathering? _Even_ after what happened yesterday?" Bramblestar stared at Ivypool in surprise.

"Well, we'll have to bring her to a Gathering sometime. She can't just appear when she's a full grown warrior. Cats will get suspicious. Plus, she needs to socialize," Ivypool explained. Bramblestar paused, then reluctantly nodded his head.

"I guess you have a point. But if she puts one paw wrong, you're taking her home _immediately_. Now, if I kept track of time right, we'll be late for the Gathering if I don't announce who's going." Ivypool dipped her head, and stepped out of the way as Bramblestar pushed past her, and bounded on the Highledge.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge for a Clan Meeting!" Bramblestar called. Once the rest of the Clan had gathered, Bramblestar announced, "Dustpelt, Sandstorm, Brightheart, Hazeltail, Lionblaze, Bumblestripe, Ivypool, Cherryblossom, Seedstem, Millie, Toadstep, Amberpaw, Smokepaw, Hollypaw, Mudpaw, and Spottedpaw will be coming to the Gathering."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ivypool saw Hedgehogpaw's face twisted in anger, but Hollypaw, Mudpaw, Smokepaw, whispering excitedly to each other nearby, didn't seem to notice.

"I want to meet a RiverClan apprentice!" announced Mudpaw. "Why? They're all meow and no claws," wondered Smokepaw.

"I've always wanted to know what fish tastes like," Mudpaw meowed. Smokepaw sniffed. "Then catch one yourself. If you talk to a RiverClan cat, they'll somehow lead the conversation to how 'amazing' they are." "But I still want to know what fish taste like," Mudpaw insisted. Smokepaw rolled his eyes.

"I'd like to meet a ShadowClan apprentice. Maybe I can get them to spill their secrets of how they can blend into the shadows. I'd like to know how to do that, with my black pelt," Hollypaw meowed.

"ShadowClan is the most secretive Clan. There's no possible way you'll get them to talk," Amberpaw mewed. "There's no harm in trying," Hollypaw mewed defensively.

Cherryblossom turned toward Ivypool, her amber eyes alight with amusement. "It looks like our apprentices are excited for the gathering tonight," Cherryblossom commented. Ivypool sighed. "Aren't they all?" But she did notice how Spottedpaw wasn't with the group of excited apprentices, but instead, sitting near the camp entrance, looking deep in thought.

"Let's go!" Bramblestar mewed, interrupting the she-cats' conversation. The apprentices instantly rushed out of camp, Cherryblossom rolling her eyes at Ivypool as she padded out. Mudpaw was always ahead of the group, only slowing to make sure that Bramblestar had the lead. Once the cats reached the tree bridge, Mudpaw instantly dashed on the wood.

"No! Mudpaw! Stop!" Brightheart yelled. But it was too late. Mudpaw's paws slid under him, and he plunged into the water. Ivypool lost sight of his head, and let out the breath she realized she was holding when a brown tabby head bobbed up, and he spluttered out water.

"Help!" he cried.

A pale dark gray she-cat with blue eyes whipped around, and dived in the water after the apprentice. Her jaws grasped his scruff, and she strongly swam to the bank, dropping her freezing bundle on the sand. Lionblaze dashed over to his son and lapped at his pelt, warming him up.

"Hey Skyheart! What are you doing?" called a tortoiseshell-and-white tom. "Fishing," she replied.

"For what?" the tom queried. "Apprentices, Turtleshell," Skyheart answered. Turtleshell caught up to her, and glacing at Mudpaw's drenched pelt, sniffed him. "He should be fine; he just needs to warm up." Turtleshell mewed. "Do you need to go back to camp?" worried Leafpool. "No, I'm fine," Mudpaw meowed, shakily getting to his paws.

Leaning over next to Mudpaw's ear, Smokepaw mewed with a hint of amusment in his voice, "Well, you met a RiverClan cat."

The pair of RiverClan cats went back to their Clan, and Bramblestar glanced behind him to make sure his group was following.

Ivypool crossed the tree bridge, noticing Mudpaw and the other apprentices with their claws unsheathed walking much more slowly than previously. Once they crossed, RiverClan came behind. Mistystar gave Bramblestar a respectful nod before she leaped to the bottom of the tree where Onestar and Blackstar were waiting.

"Hey! Ivypool!" Ivypool turned around to find her old Dark Forest clanmates, Minnowtail and Sunstrike.

"You got an apprentice," Minnowtail observed, glancing at Spottedpaw. "Looks like there was a big cat in the litter," she added. Ivypool swallowed. It wasn't her duty to tell other Clans about Spottedpaw. "It seems you got an apprentice too," Ivypool mewed, glancing at a dappled tortoiseshell behind Minnowtail's legs.

"We all did," Sunstrike piped up, stepping aside to reveal a brown tom. "This is Starlingpaw, one of Swallowtail's kits. Minnowtail's apprentice is Dappledpaw, Troutstream's kit, right?" Minnowtail nodded. "What about your apprentice?"

"This is Spottedpaw, Cinderheart's kit," Ivypool introduced Spottedpaw.

"Ahem."

A grunt sounded from behind Sunstrike. "Can I go with the other apprentices now? Graypaw challenged Smokepaw to a jumping contest," Starlingpaw mewed. Sunstrike sighed. "Yes, go with the other Clan apprentices, for WindClan is to boring for you." Starlingpaw dashed away before his mentor could change her mind.

"Hey, Spottedpaw!" Dappledpaw mewed to her apprentice. "You should meet Moonpaw, Goldenpaw, and Silverpaw. This is my second Gathering, so I've met them before. Come on! It'll be fun!" Spottedpaw glanced at her mentor, and once Ivypool nodded her head, Spottedpaw padded off with the RiverClan apprentice.

"So, Sunstrike," Minnowtail began casually. "A couple Gatherings ago, I heard about Breezepelt and Nightcloud being imprisoned after their escape, but what happened to them then?" For a second Ivypool wondered why Minnowtail would bother with Breezepelt, until she remembered that he was a Dark Forest member, too.

"I would love to tell you, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see, for I shouldn't steal Onestar's thunder," the tortoiseshell explained.

"Do you ever miss the Dark Forest?" Minnowtail blurted out. Ivypool and Sunstrike looked at her strangely. "No, no, not like that," Minnowtail quickly responded.

"I mean like the feeling like you're doing extra for your Clan, preparing for any battle, and helping them out without bragging about it. And earning their praise- that wasn't easy to do, and feeling proud when they complimented you. The excitement was what attracted me, though. It felt like a secret meeting helping to make the Clans a better place."

Ivypool found herself nodding. There was no way she'd ever miss their brutal training methods, stinking forest, and slimy river, but she did miss the feeling of importance.

* * *

**It's not the longest chapter, but rest assured, Chapter 13 will be longer and _very_ eventful. Again, I believe the P.O.V. is obvious (Spottedpaw), so we'll do a different question for a surprise plushie!**

**Who is your least favorite warrior cat, and why?**

**Willowsmoke of ShadowClan, winxclubfan1, The Golden Sun, Pebblewish, Redfire, Applemist, and Eaglehaze's OCs will be featured in the next chapter (I don't now all of them yet, since I haven't finished writing chapter 13. More OCs may appear).**

**Also, guess what? I PURCHASED _BRAMBLESTAR'S STORM!_ _WHOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (I was so excited, I literally ran around the kitchen a million times)!_ Though honestly, I'm not so happy with it so far. So many awesome cats die. . . (I'm on chappie 7.)**

**~Petalsplash**


	15. Chapter 13: The Reutrn of a Leopard

**REPLY TO REVIEWS (It's about time!)**

**Skyfrost14: Thanks! And I'm not a huge Tigerstar fan either.**

**Shira the Mage: I too am frustrated with how Crowfeather keeps swinging between mates. Also, they created a bigger Mary-Sue then Dovewing? Who is it? What shipping died? TELL ME! *runs around in circles***

**Sorrelheart: I agree. One_WHISKER_ was awesome.**

**Winxclubfan1: Crowfeather isn't one of my favorites either. I am not a huge Spottedleaf fan. She won't accept Firestar is Sandstorm's!**

**Leafpelt of ThunderClan: I liked Leafpool until The Power of Three, where it seemed she just. . . snapped. Then she became grumpy and short-tempered.**

**Echosong the reaper: Thanks! But Foxleap's vote still doesn't total Mousewhisker's, but FoxXIvy is cute.**

**Fallen Blossoms: What's "Warriors Got Talent"?**

**Pines of Dew: Sure! I'll accept names, and are you referring to Rainflower because she definitely abandoned her kit.**

**BeckTheProgram: Thank you! I'll be accepting names for all of the ThunderClan apprentices (except for Barkpaw) until they become warriors. So, if you have ideas, I'd be glad to hear them (honestly, I'm _hopeless_ when it comes to names)! Though, I have enough OCs, but thanks!**

**Snowspider of ColdClan: Thanks Snowspider!**

**Dovefeather the Nightshade: Thanks, and I'll work on that!**

**Pebblewish: Totally agree. Brokenstar is not one of my favorites.**

**Prerana: Sorry! Those sound like good cats, but I am no longer accepting OCs :/**

**Ivypool and Mudpaw plushies go to Applemist, Candyheart13, Sorrelheart, Winxclubfan1, Pebblewish, and Leafpelt of ThunderClan! *tosses plushies***

**Sorry for not updating in. . . *looks at list* HOLY COW FIVE MONTHS?! Usually, I try to go by a goal I set for myself that I have to update at least once a month, but most of The LeopardClan Warrior up until this chapter was pre-written. As far as updates go, I may have to set that goal back to two or two-and-a-half months, but this. . . oh man, I should have updated sooner.**

**Don't worry though, I give you my full permission to nag me about updating if it's been more than three months. Hope this chapter pays for the wait!**

**So many things happened in this time span! I had my birthday. Yay for me. And, I'm afraid to say I suffered a mild case of writer's block (obviously). I even wrote a poem about it. I was working on other stories (check out Pebblewish's and my story, When the Clan Move to Twolegplace. It is about if the Clans became sophisticated and all that stuff. It's very amusing, and it would be awesome if you checked it out. The story Dovefeather the Nightshade and I are working on-a Warriors and Harry Potter crossover- ThunderClan Travelers which is about when Dewpaw and his siblings are transported to the Harry Potter world) and challenges (if you're interested, check out Petalsplash's Book of Challenges). Yay, advertising!**

**Petalsplash: *looks up* Wow. . . I was sure the author's notes would take up more space than that. . . .**

**Spottedpaw: Can we just hurry up with the disclaimer and get on with the story? I've waited forever.**

**Petalsplash: Fine, fine. . . Hedgehogpaw!**

**Hedgehogpaw: I'm not even in this chapter!**

**Petalsplash: Do I look like I care?**

**Hedgehogpaw: *sighs dramatically* Petalsplash doesn't own Warriors.**

**Petalsplash: Enjoy the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

"Hurry up, slow slug!" Dappledpaw called behind her as she put on a sprint. _Oh, no you don't!_

Spottedpaw stretched her legs to catch up with the RiverClan apprentice. Suddenly, Dappledpaw swerved, and Spottedpaw slid on a patch of ice, her large paws fumbling under her. She scrambled back up and unsheathed her claws to keep steady as she padded over to Dappledpaw, trying to act nonchalant about her stumble. She found the small dappled tortoiseshell attempting not to laugh, along with four other apprentices beside her.

"This is Spottedpaw of ThunderClan," Dappledpaw introduced her, flicking an ear in her direction. The four other apprentices turned to look at her, and Spottedpaw swallowed, trying to not let her nervousness show.

"It's her first Gathering, so I'd thought I'd get her and you guys acquainted. Spottedpaw, this is Moonpaw. She's from ShadowClan," Dappledpaw gestured with her tail toward a long-legged, dark silver she-cat with darker stripes, and dark blue eyes flecked with silver-gray.

Moonpaw gave Spottedpaw a shy smile, but didn't say anything. Dappledpaw then turned to a pretty silver she-cat with purple-blue eyes and said, "This here is Silverpaw, my clanmate." Silverpaw ducked her head, and looked down at her paws, as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Spottedpaw began to wonder if all of Dappledpaw's friends were this shy, but then she introduced Goldenpaw, a long-furred golden tabby she-cat with white paws, chest, and tail-tip, and piercing amber eyes.

Goldenpaw bounced up and down eagerly. "Hi! So this your first Gathering? This is my second. Oh, I know you'll love it! There's so many new-" Dappledpaw rolled her eyes, and went on before Goldenpaw could continue.

"And finally my brother, Lightningpaw." Dappledpaw flicked her tail to the bright ginger tabby with a mischievous glint in his green eyes, and he dipped his head.

"ThunderClan, huh? Who are your parents?" Lightningpaw asked her, cocking his head to the side.

"Actually, I'm- I mean, er, Cinderheart and Lionblaze," Spottedpaw bit her tongue, about to reveal she didn't really _know_ who her parents were, but stopped herself, assuming there was a reason Ivypool told Minnowtail and Sunstrike that she was Cinderheart's kit.

"So this is only your first Gathering? It's mine too, but how old are you? Do Lionblaze's kits, like, grow really fast or something?" Dappledpaw's brother continued, narrowing his eyes.

"I. . . Uh-", Spottedpaw stammered.

"Onestar called the meeting! Let's go!" Goldenpaw called out, dashing to the main part of the island, the other apprentices bolting behind. Spottedpaw exhaled a silent sigh of relief, and followed. Spottedpaw skidded to a stop, tilting her head back to gaze at the huge tree in front of her. "That's about the same size as the Sky Oak," she breathed with awe.

"What's the Sky Oak?" Dappledpaw asked absently from beside her, not even turning to look in Spottedpaw's direction. The young leopardess didn't reply, but turned to the Clan leaders on top of the branches.

"Wow, is that Onestar? He's small!" Lightningpaw gasped from behind her. Spottedpaw inwardly winced at seeing him there, praying he wouldn't ask his previous question.

"Or all RiverClan bellies are big," she joked back, trying to avoid the subject of her heritage. Ligthningpaw glared at her playfully, and protested "Hey-" But was shushed by a nearby warrior. Thanking StarClan, Spottedpaw turned her attention back on the leaders.

"Hunting has been good in WindClan," Onestar announced, "and we have two new apprentices joining us here tonight: Starlingpaw and Falconpaw!" he announced.

"Starlingpaw! Falconpaw! Starlingpaw! Falconpaw!" the Clans cheered, Spottedpaw adding her voice. Craning her neck, Spottedpaw noticed a black tom with ginger ears sitting on his hind legs, and beside him Starlingpaw, his chest fur puffed out with pride.

"And, Wrenpaw, who was previously training as a warrior, has decided to become Kestrelflight's new apprentice, and will meet with StarClan for the first time next half moon. WindClan is also expecting a new litter; Whitetail moved into the nursery, expecting _my_ kits."

A murmur of congratulations swept through the Clans, and a small white she-cat sitting near the Great Oak ducked her head.

"Although, I have a warning for other Clans. After holding Breezepelt and Nightcloud prisoner for betraying WindClan, we have decided to banish them from the territory, but be careful. You wouldn't want to shelter them or offer them help of any kind," Onestar continued.

"Yeah, but we didn't banish them before giving them some wounds to remember us by," she growled. The WindClan cats muttered in agreement.

"ThunderClan," Onestar meowed, turned to Bramblestar. "One of my patrols may have chased a fox into your territory. So be on the lookout for it. It was a young dog fox by the smell of it." Bramblestar dipped his head. "Thank you for the warning, Onestar." Onestar sat down, and flicked his tail to a blue-gray she-cat.

"That's my Clan's leader, Mistystar," Lightningpaw whispered in her ear. Spottedpaw nodded, and then turned her attention back to RiverClan's leader.

"RiverClan has prospered in the last moon. Mossyfoot's in the nursery expecting Grasspelt's kits, and we have three new warriors: Skyheart, Turtleshell, and Quietmoss," she announced. Spottedpaw recognized the gray she-cat who saved Mudpaw lifting her head up with pride, and the tortoiseshell-and-white tom with his ears pricked let the cheers sink in. Mistystar backed up as Blackstar took her place. Spottedpaw's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting Blackstar to be this frail.

"ShadowClan has been faring well this moon," he rasped, "but sadly, our elder, Tallpoppy, has joined StarClan. On a happier note, we have three new apprentices: Fallowpaw, Hailpaw, Lizardpaw." The three littermates all stood up with pride as their names were mentioned.

"And Snowbird is in the nursery, expecting Crowfrost's kits."

Finally, after what seemed like hours, it was Bramblestar's turn. As he padded up, Spottedpaw filled with anticipation for when he would announce her name.

"Like RiverClan, ThunderClan has also flourished. Dovewing is expecting, and we have four new apprentices who have begun their training: Mudpaw, Spottedpaw, Hollypaw, Hedgehogpaw. They have been training for four moons, but this is their first Gathering," Bramblestar meowed. Spottedpaw noted that he did not mention Hedgehogpaw's absence.

"Mudpaw! Spottedpaw! Hollypaw! Hedgehogpaw! Mudpaw! Spottedpaw! Hollypaw! Hedgehogpaw!" the cats cheered. Spottedpaw raised her head high as her name was called, pride filling her from nose to tail-tip.

Once the cats became quiet, the leaders bounded down, and cats slowly started to disperse from the clearing, joining their Clan groups. Pushing her way through the crowd, the dark golden leopardess kept her eye out for a familiar black tabby pelt. Turning, Spottedpaw recognized Hollypaw talking with Falconpaw and Silverpaw.

"-and then I leaped at-" Hollypaw broke off, noticing Spottedpaw approaching. "Oh, hi Spottedpaw!" Hollypaw greeted her. Spottedpaw dipped her head awkwardly to Falconpaw and Silverpaw, then leaned over to whispered in Hollypaw's ear, "I need to talk to you."

Shrugging to Falconpaw and Silverpaw, the black tabby followed Spottedpaw into a nearby bush. Spottedpaw glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and shuffled her paws. Hollypaw cocked her head to the side.

"What is it?"

"Well. . . you see. . . ever since the- the _incident_ with Hedgehogpaw, I've been thinking about what he said. . . ."

Hollypaw glanced down at her paws uncomfortably.

"I. . . I want to know more about what happened, the day I arrived in ThunderClan. And why I'm the only leopard in, well, everywhere. I was thinking, maybe we could go-"

Hollypaw cut her off, staring in disbelief. "Spottedpaw? You want to go away from the Clans?"

"No, no, not like that," Spottedpaw quickly reassured her. "I just want to visit the twolegplace Sandstorm told us about, past the horseplace."

"But why?"

"Well, I arrived on a monster, and monsters come from twolegplaces. Maybe there'll be a cat there that saw it, some clues, or. . . _anything._" Hollypaw's eyes softened.

"We're going to get in huge trouble for doing this," Hollypaw meowed slowly.

"Yeah, we probably will." Spottedpaw agreed. Hollypaw grinned.

"Then count me in."

* * *

It was difficult to sneak off the Gathering Island without any of ThunderClan noticing, but with a couple close calls, Hollypaw and Spottedpaw managed it. They had hung back, and slipped behind the RiverClan patrol. Spottedpaw was sure Dappledpaw had seen them, but she hadn't said anything to give them away so far. Hollypaw and Spottedpaw had found their way to the horseplace easily, but navigating their way to the twolegplace was the real challenge.

"Sandstorm said that they had crossed a Thunderpath with a stream that runs under it to get to the lake. . . or did it run _next_ to it?" Hollypaw muttered as they passed a shrub that looked painfully familiar.

Spottedpaw sighed. She was seriously starting to regret this idea, as her stomach gave a loud reminder that she hadn't eaten before leaving to the Gathering.

"Well, I do know one thing. We need to get out of RiverClan territory. This doesn't need to be any worse than it already is," Hollypaw decided. Spottedpaw mumbled an agreement. As they turned back towards the bush, she pricked her ears. Hollypaw paused.

"Are you coming?"

"I think I hear. . . running water!" Spottedpaw spun around, ears straining for the sound, determined not to lose it. Checking to make sure Hollypaw was following, the leopardess dashed off towards the trickling noise.

Suddenly, the ground sloped. Spottedpaw slid out her claws, gripping the falling soil, and pushed off, leaping on a ledge. Hollypaw, who had been intent on making sure she kept Spottedpaw in her sight, didn't notice the incline, and slid.

"Hollypaw!" Spottedpaw cried.

As Hollypaw let out a squeal of alarm, soil flying as she struggled to gain a foothold. Spottedpaw lurched forward and grasped the black tabby's scruff in her jaws, but with Hollypaw's weight, her grip was slipping. Spottedpaw gave a large heave, and Hollypaw was yanked up, and found her footing.

"Thanks," Hollypaw puffed.

"No problem," Spottedpaw replied. "Let's just-" the leopardess broke off with horror. The ledge dipped down as a large crack became visible in the earth. The two she-cats slowly turned to look at each other, their eyes wide with terror.

"Mousedung." Just as Hollypaw said that, the ground gave way, and they plunged downward into the torrent.

"_Hollyp-!_" Spottedpaw spluttered as her head submerged in the water. Spottedpaw shut her eyes, twisting and bumping as she was carried down the current. Instinctively moving her paws, the leopardess found her way to the surface, opened her eyes, and gasped.

"_Holl-_" she screeched, but was cut off as a wave splashed against her face, and was thrown under the water again. Pushing her way towards the surface, her head bobbed above the water, and she glanced frantically around, pupils wide, searching for any sign of her adopted sister.

_"HOLLYPAW!" _

No reply. Spottedpaw's heart was thudding against her chest as she fought to stay above the raging tide, banging and bumping into rocks and debris. Turning, she spotted a bridge upstream, with loud rumbling, bright lights, and the roaring of monsters as they thundered across. Paddling desperately to the side of the stream, she was carried under the bridge, a sudden darkness engulfing her.

As she was swept out the other side, Spottedpaw gasped, her lungs rejoicing after feeling as if they were going to burst, but the feeling was short-lived, for she once again plunged under the surface. Running out of energy and her paws going limp, Spotttedpaw stopped trying to resist the waters, but the stream went suddenly calm. Though the change was nice, the leopardess's instincts told her that she needed to get out of the water _now_.

Bobbing up, she let all the air out of her lungs upon seeing what lay ahead of her. A rumbling noise filled her head, but this rumbling was much different from the bridge's rumbling. This was much more deadly. She could no longer see the stream in front of her, and instantly knew what it was-_ a waterfall._

Paddling with her last bit strength to propel herself to the bank, Spottedpaw slid her claws out as far as the could go, making scars in the earth. With one last kick, she hauled herself on to the shore with a trail of droplets following her, and she did not even bother to fix her soggy, matted fur as she collapsed and coughed out water.

Half-opening her eyes, she noticed a bit of rubble getting swept down the stream, but as her vision cleared, she choked with horror. It was a limp black-striped form. It had a tail flowing behind it as it headed straight for the falls. _Hollypaw._

Forgetting her exhaustion as adrenaline took over, Spottedpaw gathered her haunches, and taking a deep breath, leaped into the waterfall before Hollypaw fell over the cascade. With her remaining power, she thrashed through the water, intent on reaching Hollypaw. Reaching the seemingly lifeless shape, Spottedpaw stretched out her neck and clasped Hollypaw's scruff in her jaws, and glancing out of the corner of her eye, noticed that the falls were no more than five fox-lengths away. The leopardess churned her paws furiously, but with Hollypaw's added weight, her effort was pointless.

As her paws gave way, Spottedpaw realized that her strength wouldn't save her this time. Scanning her surroundings, her eyes landed on a small tree that branched out over the river. Tensing her muscles, Spottedpaw propelled herself upward, and draped Hollypaw over the branch, her tabby tail drooping in the rapids. Unsheathing her claws, the leopardess dug them into the wood, and slowly, inch by inch, they made their way to the bank.

When Hollypaw flopped on the sand, Spottedpaw got to her paws, intent on making sure her adopted sister was okay. But after just one step, her paws crumpled beneath her, and Spottedpaw's last sight was the sand coming up to meet her face before her vision went black.

* * *

"_Spottedpaw!_"

"Spottedpaw! Oh StarClan, please be alright!" Something about the tone of the voice made Spottedpaw's eyes flicker, and almost immediately she rolled over and coughed out a mouthful of water.

"Thank StarClan!" Looking up, the leopardess made out two dark, fuzzy blobs above her. Squinting, the shapes molded into one, and Hollypaw's worried expression came into view.

"What happened?" she asked. Spottedpaw almost broke off at hearing her own voice; it sounded so raspy.

"I- I think you saved me," Hollypaw mewed. "I woke up on the beach, and saw you, unconscious on the sand. When you didn't respond, I took you to this clearing, hoping there were maybe some herbs nearby. But I'm no medicine cat, and I realized I didn't want to feed you deathberries thinking they were juniper. Though, it is rather pretty here."

For the first time, Spottedpaw took in her surroundings. Trees bordered the hollow, and bright shafts of the full moon's light glowed on the leaves and put a sheen over the grass. Jasmines were growing in patches, making the place smell and look even more beautiful. Even the resound of the waterfall, which Spottedpaw knew the force of, added to the area's magnificence.

"What now?" Spottedpaw wondered.

"Well, I believe we have two options. Luckily, the stream carried us closer to the twolegplace, so if your up for it, we could go there now. However," Hollypaw paused, eyeing Spottedpaw pointedly. "I'm not positive you are up for it. You're a mess. Perhaps it'd be best to go back to camp before I have to drag you." Glancing down at her soggy, matted fur, the leopardess began to self-consciously groom her pelt.

Though part of Spottedpaw wanted to stay in the clearing, she made her decision. After hesitating a bit, Spottedpaw shakily got to her paws, her voice wavering, but full of determination, mewed, "I want to continue. We didn't come all this way for nothing." Hollypaw narrowed her eyes, but said nothing as they padded out of the clearing.

Just after exiting the hollow, they immediately met a thunderpath. Padding to the edge, the cats gazed across, looking from side to side. "Think we can cross?" wondered Hollypaw. The thunderpath seemed silent tonight, and the glowing eyes of monsters were only seen in the distance. Spottedpaw nodded.

Taking a deep breath so that she wouldn't have to inhale the thunderpath's foul scent, Spottedpaw dashed across the path, favoring one of her back paws, Hollypaw following close behind.

Once they reached the other side, she opened her jaws to taste the air and tried to determine which direction the twolegplace was in. With a gentle but freezing leaf-bare breeze blowing her face, the leopardess could barely scent a thing. Sighing with disappointment, Spottedpaw turned to face Hollypaw, but Hollypaw's gaze was filled with awe. In front of the pair downhill, a huge twolegplace gleamed in front of them, somehow radiating its own light.

Silently and simultaneously, the pair padded down the slope. In front of the she-cats was a small twoleg nest, on the edge of a town, a dim light illuminating the cat flap on the door. Flicking their tails with excitement, Spottedpaw and Hollypaw padded into the twoleg's garden where a ginger tabby she-cat with white paws was sharpening her claws down a small birch tree.

"Hi!" Hollypaw began.

"I'm Hollypaw, and we-" the black tabby flicked her tail at Spottedpaw, "would like to know if you-" the ginger tabby's eyes widened as she glanced at Spottedpaw's large form, and as quick as she could, dashed inside her twoleg nest.

"That went well," Spottedpaw mewed sarcastically.

"_Maybe_ you should stay hidden next time," Hollypaw suggested.

Padding onward into the maze of alleys, the two she-cats noticed a blue-gray tom with silver stripes crouching over a mouse, too engrossed in his meal to detect them. Staying hidden behind a corner this time, Spottedpaw watched as Hollypaw approached the strange tom.

Hollypaw cleared her throat, and meowed, "Um, hello. I'm Hollypaw."

The tom looked up from his meal, nudged the mouse farther away with his paw, and turned his attention on the apprentice with a wary gaze. "Greetings. Triton's the name. Do you need something?"

Hollypaw shuffled her paws. "Uh, yeah. Erm, by any chance, do you know a cat that, um, travels a lot. . . or something?" Triton cocked his head to the side.

"A cat who travels a lot?" he mused.

"Yeah. Someone who's been around, and seen more than most. . ."

"So you need advice?"

"I guess we- I mean, I do."

Triton narrowed his eyes, but didn't comment on Hollypaw's fumble. "Well lucky for you, I know plenty of cats that have been all sorts of places. Hey, Lumina!" Triton called. Whipping around, Spottedpaw noticed a pair of amber eyes, so amber they almost seemed red, peering at Hollypaw and Triton from the shadows.

The eyes belonged to a ragged dark gray she-cat who emerged to stand beside Triton. "This is my sister," he introduced her. Lumina nodded, as Triton meowed, "Lumina knows this place like the back of her paw. So what kind of advice do you need?"

"Actually. . . it's my friend who needs help," Hollypaw mewed, and flicked her tail in Spottedpaw's direction. As Triton and Lumina both turned toward her, the young leopardess stepped into the alley. The loners' eyes widened with surprise and Spottedpaw hoped she didn't see any hostility in there as well.

"Hi," Spottedpaw glanced down at her paws. The rogues didn't reply.

"Follow me," Lumina said finally.

The ragged she-cat lead the way through the web-like twolegplace at a brisk pace with her brother by her side, heads together and voices low, not pausing once to make sure Hollypaw and Spottedpaw were following. Spottedpaw and Hollypaw exchanged a glance; neither of them had any idea of how Spottedpaw's questions would be answered, nor what cat would know enough to answer them.

Finally, the four cats entered a dark, shadowed ally, the wind rustling junk and rubbish, making Spottedpaw jump whenever the debris hit each other and clanked. Shadows moved in the corner of her eye, adding to her unease. Looking closer, the leopardess realized that the shadows were actually cats, and she could see their eye's gleaming in the darkness, their gaze fixated on the newcomers.

"I don't know if I like this," Hollypaw murmured in her ear, her voice high pitched. Spottedpaw gulped and nodded.

Suddenly, a darker shadow crossed the clearing, and looking up, the two cats noticed a silhouette of a feline on top of a large silver container. The cat jumped down, rather stiffly, and padded to the outsiders. A beam of moonlight shone on the new cat, who had a dull, black-and-white pelt, but whose green eyes glowed with wisdom.

Sniffing them, she rasped in a barely audible voice, "Leopard."

Spottedpaw blinked. "Pardon me?"

"You are a leopard?" It was more of statement then a question.

"I- I think so?"

"Your kind has not been here for a very long time." Spottedpaw again exchanged a puzzled glance with Hollypaw.

"You're talking as if leopards have been here before-"

"They have."

"They- I mean, we have?"

The old she-cat nodded, and turned. "Are you from the Clans? Your pelt smells of forests and heather, a scent I have almost forgotten."

"We are. But if leopards have been here before, how come-"

"-You're the only one?"

Spottedpaw was at a temporary loss for words. "Yeah."

"They are rare," she meowed. "Every once in a while, they get here somehow. Some twolegs are foolish enough to think that they can be kittypets, others bring them here for their pelts. Whatever the reason, it always revolves around twolegs."

"What happened the last time a leopard was here?" Spottedpaw asked, although she feared the answer.

The old black-and-white she-cat sat down, and wrapped her tail around her paws. "When I was a kit," she began, "my mother told me to never leave the den alone, no matter what. She said there was a beast roaming around; as large as a dog, powerful enough to scale trees in one bound and kill deer with one bite. It prowled at night, eating our meager food supply. But occasionally, it would turn on the cats. Few were lucky enough to get away. Others didn't prevail." Dread was growing in Spottedpaw's stomach, and something told her that she should leave before she heard the outcome of the story, but her paws wouldn't move.

"Finally, it was spotted by a twoleg. The rest of us knew it was only a matter of time, but the leopard wasn't the only one who suffered. The twolegs set up traps; some cats were unlucky enough to fall into them, though most of the time, the twolegs let us go. Eventually, the leopard was caught, and taken away."

Spottedpaw opened her mouth, about to ask another question, but was interrupted when a crash sounded from in the alley. The cats leaped for the shadows, and, when Spottedpaw turned back around, the old she-cat was gone.

"Spottedpaw, we need to get out of here. _Now._" Hollypaw mewed, a bit of tremor in her voice. Agreeing completely, the two felines dashed out of the alley and retraced their steps through the twolegplace, not stopping for a breath. Only when they finally exited the maze and bolted up the hill past the ginger kittypet's home did Spottedpaw exhale a sigh of relief. But as the two gazed in the direction toward the Clans, their relief turned into foreboding at what would face them next.

* * *

**You know, originally I planned that Hollypaw and Spottedpaw just go around the stream. Now where's the fun in that? And Gatherings are hard! But you know what? I'm proud of this chapter! Take that, Writer's Block! Ah, it feels good to be back.**

**And just so you know, the twolegplace they visited was not the horseplace or one I made up, but a twolegplace behind RiverClan territory on the From the Forest to the Lake map.**

**Also, I did my research, and there actually were reports of leopards and other big cats in England. Weird, huh?**

**And guess what tomorrow is! It's my account's first birthday! So here's some virtual b-day cookies! Hope they're good (odds of me having leftovers: -5%)!**

**(: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: ****:) ****(: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) (: :) **

**Now back to guessing! The P.O.V. of the next chapter will be. . . *drumroll***

**Willowshine's mentor's brother's mother's mate's first apprentice's mother's daughter's mate's mentor's mate's son's mate's mother's father's uncle's first apprentice's apprentice's apprentice.**

**I think it's the toughest one yet! Correct guessers get jumbo (yes, jumbo) Hollypaw and Dappledpaw plushies, and an extra cookie if there are any (ha ha, like that's gonna happen)!**

**Oh, and hope everyone had a good Halloween! And Thanksgiving! And Christmas! And a happy new year! And a happy Groundhog's day tomorrow! And others! Yay!**

**~Petalsplash**

* * *

_**ωяιтєя'ѕ вℓσ¢к**_

_You hang over my shoulder,_  
_Watching my every move._  
_And when I sit down with a pencil,_  
_I can't seem to find the groove!_

_Why can't you fade and die,_  
_Instead of messing with me?_  
_Please stop making me cry,_  
_With your constant evil deeds._

_I keep trying to get rid of your presence,_  
_With friends and ideas bursting through._  
_Though apparently you only listen to Queens,_  
_For peasants aren't good enough for you._

_Sometimes, when I start writing,_  
_I find just the right words._  
_But others, when you haunt me,_  
_I jot scribbles, much absurd._

_And when a chill runs through me,_  
_A shiver full of relief._  
_I know you're not nearby anymore,_  
_You've left me with no grief._

_And if I have a breakthrough,_  
_You'll make me forget._  
_And I'll want to punch the monitor,_  
_And with tears my face is wet._

_For Writer's Block is taunting me,_  
_Though this fantastic poem, just wrote,_  
_Flowed right from my fingertips,_  
_And is worthy of a gloat!_


	16. Author's Note

**Hey guys. Petal here. Ah yes, the dreaded chapter labeled "Author's Note." Nothing good can come of this. Well, I'll get straight to the point. Fifth grade me wrote chapter one, and the other beginning chapters. And little fifth grade Petal wasn't very good at planning ahead. **

**When little fifth grade Petal first wrote this, _Warriors_ was my only fandom. I was still in elementary, thinking along the lines of "I'm too impatient to wait for Bramblestar's Storm" and "wouldn't it be cool if there was a big cat living among the Clan cats." So, I combined them. But ever since Bramblestar's Storm came out, my motivational levels for this story has dropped dramatically (easy to see, considering I last updated in February *winces*).**

**You see, when I came up with this story, I didn't know how to end it; heck, I didn't even come up with the full plot (and little Petal wasn't as good as she'd claim when it comes to characterization). And even now, I'm at a bit of an impasse. I just honestly don't know where this story could go from here. Now, I'm not saying this story will never be updated again; who knows, it could be in a day or in a year that inspiration strikes again. But it'd be a lie for me to say that you should check frequently for an update.**

**I am so, ever so grateful for everyone's support for me with this story. This was my first fanfiction, and I'll never forget that it was _this _fandom and _this _story that made me discover my love for writing, and how good it feels to have wonderful people like you supporting me. So I'd like to give a shout-out to those of you who've been with this story and reviewed since the near-beginning: Pebblewish, Winx, Wolf star1500, Redfire, and Amberstorm233. I'm sorry if I forgot to mention you, but it was _all _of your support that kept me going.**

**This won't be my last fanfiction that I will contribute to this fandom. I'm already writing another _Warriors_ fanfic, one that I believe has a much more developed plot and characters, so keep your eyes out for that. As for other fandoms, I am now a proud Whovian, Merlinian, Sherlockian, Supernatural fan, Potterhead, Mythical Beast, Phan, Nerdfighter, and many more. I don't think I'll post anything on this account for those fandoms, but you never know.**

**Once again, I can't express how much I appreciate your support. Thanks for the memories.**

**Signing out for the last time,**

**~Petalsplash**


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